Very impressive numbers in a franchise league do not always guarantee instant success on the international stage. That’s what some of India’s IPL heroes found out in Harare on Saturday.

The likes of Abhishek Sharma and Riyan Parag — alongside keeper-batter Dhruv Jurel who made his T20I debut — had their first taste of an India appearance in the first of the five T20Is against Zimbabwe. And for both batters, it turned out to be a forgettable experience.

Abhishek couldn’t even score his first international runs, while Riyan managed just two. The other Indian batters, including captain for the tour Shubman Gill, weren’t much better as Zimbabwe humbled India by 13 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the series. That too, defending only 115/9 after India put them in.

Of course, a few losses can come on the way for this young Indian team. But the inability to overhaul a paltry total on a pitch that wasn’t really tricky and against a team that seldom gets to play against top-ranked sides doesn’t bode well for Gill and his teammates. Besides, these Zimbabweans had even lost to Uganda, which crushed their hopes of participating in the recently concluded T20 World Cup.

Even Jurel (6), who had earlier shown excellent temperament and technique in the England Tests, played a poor shot on a wicket which was on the slower side. Such poor application wasn’t expected of Rinku Singh (0) too as he wasn’t playing on such a surface for the first time either.

Equally disappointing was Chennai Super Kings captain Ruturaj Gaikwad (7), who came in at No.3. One expected a better showing from captain Gill (31 off 29 balls) too. Despite being well set, he was nowhere near the line of the ball off his counterpart Sikandar Raza.

“When you have to chase 115 and your No. 10 bat is the one you want to win you the game, you know something’s gone wrong,” Gill acknowledged after India were bundled out for 102 with a ball remaining. If not for a bit of resistance from Washington Sundar (27), who came in at No.7, the margin of defeat would have been bigger for the Indians. However, leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi (4/13) was one positive for India, utilising the googly to good effect.

With the second T20I to be played on Sunday, India have just a few hours to reflect on this loss and rectify the errors. But the sooner they do it, the better for the team.

Brief scores: Zimbabwe 115/9 in 20 (Ravi Bishnoi 4/13). India 102 in 19.5 (Sikandar Raza 4/25, Tendai Chatara 3/16). Zimbabwe won by 13 runs.