Niki Prasad focuses on lessons from setbacks after record bowling start against Zimbabwe

Niki Prasad praised learning from setbacks after taking wickets with her first two deliveries in T20I cricket against Zimbabwe. Her two-wicket spell helped India secure a nine-wicket victory and take an unassailable series lead, as she highlighted improvement and preparation.

Raipur: Young batting all-rounder Niki Prasad, who joined an exclusive club by picking up wickets with her first two balls in international cricket during the second T20I against Zimbabwe, stated that she prefers to draw lessons from setbacks rather than carry the burden of a poor performance into her next game.

Niki, who captained India to its second successive Women’s U19 T20 World Cup triumph in Malaysia in 2025, returned with figures of 2-7 from two overs of off-spin as India thrashed Zimbabwe by nine wickets to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

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Niki became only the third player to strike with each of her first two deliveries in T20Is, after Australia’s Michael Kasprowicz and USA’s Akshatha Rao. That bowling effort, along with another day of terrific fielding effort, came after a composed debut in the series opener at the same venue, where she made an unbeaten 39 off 35 balls and hit the winning runs.

“If I keep thinking that my performance is not good, then I think I will play the next matches under the same pressure. So I think about what the lessons were from a match that didn’t go well and how to apply them in the next match,” Prasad was quoted as saying by the ICC in the post-match press conference.

India will look to complete a clean sweep when they take on Zimbabwe in the final T20I here on Tuesday. Despite the emphatic win, Niki felt there was still room for improvement, particularly in the field. “I think in every practice session and every match, we try to make as many improvements as possible. There were some misfields here and there, but overall, our team’s progress has been really good.”

She also credited her fellow bowlers for sticking to a simple plan. “Our plans were very clear. We wanted to attack the stumps as much as possible. I think all the bowlers were very sharp in executing the plan.”

Niki further remarked the batters had regrouped well after the opening game. “The flow of the batters is not the same every day. We came back and talked about what we could do better. It was very basic: we would focus on our strengths as much as possible. All the batters, Smriti di and Shafali di, went out and played to their strengths.”

Experiencing the senior India team environment for the first time, Niki felt new captain Smriti Mandhana has been doing a good job of maintaining the usual culture. “This is also my first time with the Indian team. Over the years, I can see how good the team environment has been. And I think Smriti di is carrying the same thing forward.”