The India team for the first two Twenty20 Internationals against Zimbabwe has undergone some alterations, according the BCCI. Hurricane Beryl has left the players from the winning T20 World Cup side stranded in Barbados, but they should be in New Delhi by 8 PM IST on July 3. The BCCI has not yet announced the date of the team’s departure for Harare, but three members of the starting lineup—Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, and Yashasvi Jaiswal—will go to India first with the team.
For the first two games of the five-match series, Sai Sudharsan, Jitesh Sharma, and Harshit Rana have been selected as the replacements for the three players. Although Jitesh Sharma was a member of the Indian side before the Indian Premier League (IPL), Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson were chosen for the T20 World Cup instead of him.
Regarding Sai Sudharsan and Harshit Rana, they have both received recognition for their outstanding performances in this year’s IPL. The latter showed excellent grit in a game of pressure by taking 19 wickets in just 11 innings for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). Many even believed that Rana ought to have been included in the squad sooner for the entire series against Zimbabwe. In the meantime, Sudharsan was one of the Gujarat Titans’ few bright spots in the IPL 2024, amassing 527 runs at a 47.9 average and 141.28 strike rate in 12 games.
It’s interesting to note that Rinku Singh and Khaleel Ahmed, two more players, are currently part of the World Cup winning team. They were in the reserve group and will travel to India with the World Cup team. However, no one has been named to take their place. They might depart for Zimbabwe with Samson, Jaiswal, and Dube as well, as it is unlikely that they would arrive in time. Thus, India will only have 13 players for the first two Twenty20 Internationals.
India’s squad for 1st & 2nd T20I against Zimbabwe: Shubman Gill (Captain), 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.
