Abhishek Sharma failed to open his account on his India debut against Zimbabwe in the first T20I of the five-match series.

Abhishek, who was the most attacking batter in the Indian Premier League 2024, faced four balls before heading back to the dressing room.

The southpaw tried to hit Brian Bennett for a six but was caught by Wellington Masakadza. Riyan Parag, who was also playing his first international match, managed just two runs. The young batter lasted for three balls. He tried to play a big shot but couldn’t time the ball and paid a heavy price.

Meanwhile, Abhishek accumulated 484 runs in 16 matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad. He scored his runs at a strike rate of 204.21.

On the other hand, Parag was the third highest run-scorer in the 17th season. He amassed 573 runs at an average of 52.09 and a strike-rate of 149.21.

Ruturaj Gaikwad (7) and Rinku Singh (0) were the other two batters to depart with India chasing 116 runs in 20 overs.