Just before going on the Zimbabwe tour, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has made three big changes in the 15-member squad. About a week ago, the Indian team was announced for the T20 series against Zimbabwe. But in the meantime, Nitish Reddy was dropped due to injury and Shivam Dubey was given his place.
But now the names of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shivam Dube and Sanju Samson have been removed from the first 2 matches of the T20 series and Sai Sudarshan, Jitesh Sharma and Harshit Rana have been given their place. Jitesh and Sudarshan have played for Team India before, but this is a debut call for Harshit Rana. Harshit took 19 wickets while playing for KKR in IPL 2024.
Why have the changes been made?
Shivam Dube, Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal, all three players were part of India’s T20 World Cup squad. Since Team India is currently stuck in Barbados due to cyclone, first it will be waited for to come to India, then Jaiswal, Dube and Samson will be considered to be sent to Zimbabwe. In such a situation, Sai Sudarshan, Jitesh Sharma and Harshit Rana will be seen playing in their place in the first 2 T20 matches.
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When will the series start?
The 5 match series between India and Zimbabwe will start from July 6 and will run till July 14. All 5 matches of the series are to be played in Harare. On the one hand, India has rested all its senior players for this series, on the other hand, Zimbabwe has also prepared a young team for the upcoming series, leaving out experienced players like Craig Ervine and Sean Waltman.