It wasn't the start that team India would have thought of before the match as the Shubman Gill-led side lost to Zimbabwe in the first T20 international of the five-match series by 13 runs.
Having won the toss and opting to field first, team India restricted Zimbabwe to a below-average score of 115 and Shubman Gill led side looked as firm favourites at the halfway stage.
But it was Sikandar Raza's side that kept Team India on the toes throughout the chase by picking up wickets at regular intervals.
Abhishek Sharma was dismissed in the first over and by the end of the powerplay, Team India had lost four crucial wickets and from there on, India seemed to be playing a catching-up game throughout the innings.
Skipper Shubman Gill held on to one end while wickets kept tumbling from the other before the skipper too was dismissed after scoring 31 runs in 29 deliveries.
As soon as Shubman Gill lost his wicket, The Indian chase looked in all sorts of trouble but, Washington Sundar played some attacking shots in the 18th over but Zimbabwe's Muzarabani gave away just 2 runs in the penultimate over. India needed 16 in the final over but some death bowling and some fine fielding took the hosts over the line. Team India was all out for 102 runs which is also their sixth-lowest total in T20 International history.
India's playing XI consisted of three debutants. Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel. But the trio failed to leave a mark in their maiden T20I as Abhishek Sharma departed on a duck whereas Riyan Parag scored just 2 runs before losing his wicket. Dhruv Jurel, on the other hand, was impressive behind the stumps but he too failed to contribute with the bat and scored 7 runs in 14 deliveries.
Earlier, Ravi Bishnoi was the pick of the bowlers from the Indian team as the spinner took 4 wickets and gave away 13 runs in his 4-over spell and he was well supported by Washington Sundar, who took 2 wickets.
The 2nd T20 match of the 5-match series will take place tomorrow and it will be interesting to see if skipper Shubman Gill decides to go with the same playing XI or makes some changes.