Young Indian cricket team will travel directly from the US to Harare for a five-match T20 international series starting Saturday. Led by skipper Shubman Gill and National Cricket Academy head VVS Laxman.
Riyan Parag and Abhishek Sharma earned their debut call-ups from selectors after outstanding performances during IPL 2018.
In this article, we will discuss the main points of Zimbabwe National Cricket Team vs India National Cricket Team Players and top players.
Shubman Gill
Zimbabwe Cricket (ZCU), is the full-time member of the International Cricket Council (ICC), competing in Test matches, One Day Internationals (ODIs) and Twenty20 Internationals. They currently rank tenth globally for Tests; eleventh for ODIs; and twelfth in T20Is according to ICC rankings. The team is managed by Zimbabwe Cricket Union.
Skipper Sikandar Raza of Zimbabwe was the leading run-scorer in T20Is with over 4,000 runs; however, their batsmen struggled against India’s pace bowlers by playing reckless shots that cost wickets and made their debut appearances largely unsuccessful. Abhishek Sharma and Riyan Parag also failed to leave an impression during their debuts.
Shubman Gill, an India travelling reserve player who was seen leaving Harare Airport by Zimbabwe Cricket on Tuesday evening was set to rejoin his teammates later that day.
Pacer Khaleel Ahmed and batsman Rinku Singh, who were initially left out of India’s initial squad, will travel to Harare to participate in this three-match T20 series after arriving on Thursday by charter flight. On Friday morning they will be honored by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with an audience before departing to Barbados for three matches which Zimbabwe hopes will mark their comeback following their two ODI series defeat by Sri Lanka.
Yashasvi Jaiswal
Yashasvi Jaiswal has enjoyed an outstanding start to his run-chase innings. Already he has hit three fours and one six off Zimbabwe opener Blessing Muzarabani to become India’s fourth highest scorer so far in this tournament.
19-year-old Rishabh Pant is quickly emerging as one of India’s premier batsmen and it was evident during India’s ten-wicket win over Zimbabwe in Harare in T20Is, smashing 15 boundaries off 53 balls while inching ever closer towards his maiden international century – scoring an astounding total of 154 runs so far in this series.
Jaiswal stands out with his puffy Morrant pads and his aggressive T20 approach, not afraid to take on bowlers or attempt an audacious scoop over his own keeper’s head in search of boundaries.
Khaleel Ahmed, Abhishek Sharma and Washington Sundar’s brilliant bowling helped India restrict Zimbabwe to just 152/7 in their 20 overs before Jaiswal and Shivam Dube steered India to an outstanding total of 167/6 in their own 20 overs.
Shubman Gill, currently on a break and not part of the squad for Zimbabwe series, will join his teammates directly from America on July 6. Meanwhile, other young cricketers such as VVS Laxman from National Cricket Academy will have already arrived in Harare.
Ruturaj Gaikwad
India’s batting unit had difficulty scoring runs against Zimbabwe in their inaugural Twenty20 International (T20I), so today they will look to correct that deficit at Harare Sports Club where this second match of five will take place. They need 235 runs in 20 overs to win this match which starts at 12.00 noon local time.
India won the toss and elected to bat first. Their efforts resulted in 234/2 – their highest total against Zimbabwe ever! Abhishek Sharma made history by scoring his maiden T20I century in 47 balls while Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rinku Singh also provided key contributions.
Gaikwad was one of India’s outstanding performers during their tour to Zimbabwe, yet was left out of their T20I squad against Sri Lanka. This decision caused outrage on social media among fans and experts, prompting many fans to question why this selection process took place.
Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma started out well, but were unable to maintain the momentum. Struggling against Zimbabwe’s pace attack led by Wellington Masakadza and Blessing Muzarabani, they struggled finding boundaries against Zimbabwean pace bowlers such as Muzarabani. Additionally, in fielding conditions they gave away extra runs while dropping regulation catches.
Abhishek Sharma
Mohali-born Abhishek Sharma’s selection for India’s tour of Zimbabwe brought widespread joy. The BCCI posted their congratulations for him, while Sanju Samson remembered fondly the series win he experienced first hand.
Sharma proved he would make the most of this opportunity when in his second T20I match against Australia he hit an astonishing century off 47 balls to help India defeat them by 10 wickets and become champions. This innings included 27 sixes – more than any batsman from a Test-playing nation had scored before this innings began!
In the third T20I he was dropped, but is expected to make his comeback for the fourth and fifth games. Expect him to open alongside Shubman Gill while Ruturaj Gaikwad will remain at No 3.
The team’s performance in their opening two matches has been far below par and will aim to improve against an understrength Zimbabwe side. Many Zimbabwe players – including Brendan Taylor, Graeme Cremer, Sean Williams and Craig Ervine – had boycotted due to not receiving salaries; thus leaving an insufficient squad who lost both matches by massive margins. Zimbabwe will try and correct their errors and gain control of this series by winning more matches and taking an early stranglehold over this competition.
Rinku Singh
Zimbabwe finally began winning Test matches and ODI series during the late 1990s after years of decline, thanks to newcomers Travis Friend, Andy Blignaut, Hamilton Masakadza, Craig Wishart Prosper Utseya and Dougie Marillier who provided fresh impetus. These players’ powerful batting combined with formidable bowling from Ryan Burl, Elton Chigumbura and Sean Ervine’s proved too much for opponents on an international stage.
Zimbabwe has struggled in recent times to maintain their level of success. Both their political situation and sporting fortunes began declining simultaneously, which had an adverse effect on Zimbabwean performances.
Shubman Gill will lead India against Zimbabwe, with its team featuring several young players. Beginning July 6, India and Zimbabwe are scheduled to face each other five T20Is starting with this series slated for five T20s between them and this team includes traveling reserves Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Reddy Rinku Singh Washington Sundar Ravi Bishnoi Avesh Khan Khaleel Ahmed Mukesh Kumar Tushar Deshpande in addition to Shubman Gill as captains.
Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube and Yashasvi Jaiswal had planned on joining India’s squad for Zimbabwe but are presently stranded due to Hurricane Beryl in Barbados. BCCI have provided replacement players in Sai Sudharsan, Jitesh Sharma and Harshit Rana respectively as replacements.
Sanju Samson
Sanju Samson amazed fans with an astounding half-century in India’s 42-run victory against Zimbabwe in their fifth and final T20I at Harare Sports Club on Sunday. The wicketkeeper-batsman scored 58 off 45 balls – with four sixes included! – to help India set an excellent total of 167; Mukesh Kumar and Shivam Dube then bowled superbly to restrict Zimbabwe to just 125 all out.
The match marked the return of several young Indian players following their absence due to T20 World Cup participation – such as Abhishek Sharma, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag and Assam pacer Ruturaj Gaikwad – into India’s national squad.
Young batters provided India with the platform needed to post a big total in the powerplay. Unfortunately, India’s middle order faltered and were unable to keep up with the run rate; Mukesh Kumar, Washington Sundar and Dube then took care of business to secure an unlikely series win.
Zimbabwe’s batting collapse started early with opener Yashasvi Jaiswal failing to take full advantage of her start and being bowled by Blessing Muzarabani within three overs; Abhishek Sharma soon after misjudged Richard Ngarava short ball and was caught. Following this collapsed middle order performance and failed run chase target, Hamilton Masakadza was removed as captain following this series with Peter Moor taking over all forms.
