ZIM vs IND T20I: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has officially named the 15-member squad for the upcoming India tour of Zimbabwe. The 5-match T20I series is scheduled to start on July 6, 2024. The biggest surprise from the announcement is that Shubman Gill has been named captain of the team, with senior players such as Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, and Ravindra Jadeja all rested.
Watch Axar Patel taking a flying one-handed catch against Australia
BCCI names squad for ZIM vs IND T20I series
Before BCCI officially announced the squads, rumors were doing the round about who would be leading the squad against Zimbabwe. Sanju Samson and Shreyas Iyer were hot favorites to lead the team, and although the former did find the place in the 15-man squad, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) skipper was snubbed entirely. It was a big call to overlook Iyer who led KKR to its 3rd IPL title this year.
Amongst the big names, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel, who are part of India’s T20I World Cup squad, have been rested.
The squad also consists of first timers. Sunrisers Hyderbad’s Abhishek Sharma and Nitish Kumar Reddy, along with Rajasthan Royals’ Riyan Parag and Chennai Super Kings’ Tushar Deshpande will be making their debuts for Team India. Here’s the full India squad for 5-match T20I series against Zimbabwe.
India’s squad for T20I tour of Zimbabwe: Shubman Gill (Captain), Sanju Samson (WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhishek Sharma, Rinku Singh, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Nitish Reddy, Riyan Parag, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Tushar Deshpande, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar.
India’s schedule for Zimbabwe Tour
The five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe kicks off on Saturday, July 6. The subsequent matches will be played on 7, 10, 13 and 14 of same month. After that series, the Indian cricket team will go on a two month-long break before the domestic season kicks off with the two-match Test series against Bangladesh from September 19.