Team India touchdown in Zimbabwe ahead of five-match T20I series

Team India has arrived in Zimbabwe ahead of the five-match T20I series against the hosts. Notably, a young team led by Shubman Gill will take on Zimbabwe from Saturday, July 6. National Cricket Academy (NCA) head VVS Laxman will oversee the role of head coach for the entire tour.

Ahead of the series, the team landed in Zimbabwe on Wednesday, July 3 as they received a warm welcome upon their arrival. In a video shared by Zimbabwe Cricket, Laxman could be seen emerging from the arrivals gate along with other members of the support staff followed by the 15-member squad.

advertisement

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.

Harshit Rana's cryptic post after being ignored

After not being picked in the initial squad, the 22-year-old put up a cryptic message on his Instagram story saying, ‘Everything will come to you at the perfect time.’ However, after his selection in the team, KKR congratulated the youngster with a special post with the caption, “God's Plan, babay! 🇮🇳 Chalo Zimbabwe!”

On the other hand, Sai Sudharsan also had a good season with the bat finishing as the sixth-highest scorer of the season (531 runs) while Dhruv Jurel scored 195 runs with the bat in the season.

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

Published By: Rishabh Beniwal Published On: Jul 3, 2024

Click here to read article