The new-looked Indian team will play a five-match T20I series against the African nation, which starts from July 6.
In front of the five-match T20I series against the hosts, the Indian squad has arrived in Zimbabwe. Notably, on Saturday, July 6, a youthful team captained by Shubman Gill will play Zimbabwe. Head of the National Cricket Academy (NCA) VVS Laxman will be in charge of head coaching during the whole tour.
The squad arrived in Zimbabwe on Wednesday, July 3, ahead of the series, and was greeted with warmth. Laxman and other members of the support staff were seen leaving the arrivals gate first, followed by the 15-member squad, in a video released by Zimbabwe Cricket.
The BCCI has announced three changes in the squad ahead of the series with batter Sai Sudharsan, wicketkeeper batter Jitesh Sharma and fast bowler Harshit Rana added to the team. The trio have replaced Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube and Yashasvi Jaiswal for the first two T20Is who are stranded in Zimbabwe along with the Indian team due to Hurricane Beryl and are likely to join the squad later
Notably, Harshit Rana had a phenomenal season playing for KKR in the Indian Premier League 2024 as he finished as the joint fourth-highest wicket-taker of the tournament. The right-arm seamer picked 19 wickets from 11 innings at an average of 20.15 and an economy of 9.08.
Following rejection, harshit rana posted a mysterious message:
The 22-year-old posted a mysterious message on his Instagram account, stating, “Everything will come to you at the perfect time,” after not being selected for the first team. KKR, however, hailed the young player with a special message that read, “God’s Plan, babay! ð®ð³ Chalo Zimbabwe!” following his selection for the team.
However, Dhruv Jurel scored 195 runs with the bat during the season, while Sai Sudharsan also had a strong season, finishing as the sixth-highest scorer (531 runs).
India’s playing eleven for the first and second Twenty20 international matches against Zimbabwe is as follows: captain Shubman Gill; Ruturaj Gaikwad; Abhishek Sharma; Rinku Singh; Dhruv Jurel (WK); Riyan Parag; Washington Sundar; Ravi Bishnoi; Avesh Khan; Khaleel Ahmed; Mukesh Kumar; Tushar Deshpande; Sai Sudharsan; Jitesh Sharma (WK), Harshit Rana.