India to Clash with Zimbabwe in Five-Match T20 Series at Harare

India, fresh off their T20 World Cup win, will play a five-match T20 series against Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club. Key players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have retired, and Shubman Gill leads a new-look team. Zimbabwe comes into the series after a 4-1 loss to Bangladesh.

World champions India are set to face hosts Zimbabwe in an eagerly anticipated five-match T20 cricket series at the Harare Sports Club, starting this Saturday. This marks India's first bilateral series in Zimbabwe since 2016. All matches are scheduled for a 4:30 PM IST start with live streaming and telecast available in India.

The Indian men's cricket team recently clinched the T20 Cricket World Cup 2024, an event co-hosted by the United States and West Indies. In contrast, Zimbabwe, still reeling from a 4-1 series loss to Bangladesh in May, failed to qualify for the T20 World Cup.

A significantly altered Indian squad will take the field in Harare as veterans like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja have retired from the T20 format. Notably, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Suryakumar Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, and Jasprit Bumrah will also be missing from the series.

Shubman Gill will captain the Indian team, featuring players such as Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, and Ravi Bishnoi. IPL 2024's top six-hitter Abhishek Sharma, along with Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, and Tushar Deshpande, could make their T20 debuts.

Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, and Yashasvi Jaiswal, part of the World Cup-winning team, will miss the first two T20 matches. Replacements include Sai Sudharsan, Jitesh Sharma, and Harshit Rana. Nitish Kumar Reddy, initially called up, is sidelined due to injury.

Historically, India holds the upper hand in men's T20 internationals against Zimbabwe, winning six of eight head-to-head encounters. Zimbabwe's victories came in 2015 and 2016, both in Harare. The two teams last faced each other in the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup, where India triumphed by 71 runs, thanks to Suryakumar Yadav's unbeaten 61 off 25 balls. (ANI)

(With inputs from agencies.)