IND vs ZIM Match Preview- 1st T20I, India Tour Of Zimbabwe 2024

India takes on Zimbabwe in a five-match T20I series from July 6-14. All the five matches will be played in Harare. This is India's first tour to Zimbabwe since 2016.

IND vs ZIM Date and Venue

The IND vs ZIM first T20I will be played in Harare on July 6, Saturday from 4.30 pm IST which is 1 pm local time.

IND vs ZIM Match Preview- 1st T20I, India Tour Of Zimbabwe 2024

India

Shubman Gill will lead a young Indian contingent in this five-match series. He was a part of the reserves for India's T20 World Cup squad but was released early. The BCCI added Sai Sudharsan, Harshit Rana, and Jitesh Sharma as replacements for Shivam Dube, Sanju Samson, and Yashasvi Jaiswal who will be traveling to India with the World Cup-winning squad and then will be joining the side.

The batting lineup looks strong. However, the bowling lineup is inexperienced. It is an opportunity for all these bowlers to make their presence felt. Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan have played T20Is before and will be playing international cricket after a long time. A lot rests on Ravi Bishnoi and Washington Sundar.

India's squad for 1st & 2nd T20I- 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

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe will be led by Sikandar Raza who is a man on a mission. Under his captaincy, the team failed to qualify for the T20 World Cup. Now they have a challenge facing the Indian team who recently won the T20 World Cup. This though is a totally different side but a talented side nonetheless.

Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) decided to bench senior players after they could not take the team into the World Cup. Tendai Chatara, Brandon Mavuta, and Wessly Madhevere are among those who return to the 17-man squad led by Sikandar Raza but there's no place for Ryan Burl, Joylord Gumbie and Ainsley Ndlovu, Craig Ervine and Sean Williams as well.

Zimbabwe last played a T20I series against Bangladesh in April against Bangladesh that they lost 4-1. Before that, they lost to Sri Lanka 2-1.

Zimbabwe Squad

Sikandar Raza (captain), Faraz Akram, Brian Bennett, Johnathan Campbell, Tendai Chatara, Luke Jongwe, Innocent Kaia, Clive Madande, Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Brandon Mavuta, Blessing Muzarabani, Dion Myers, Antum Naqvi, Richard Ngarava, Milton Shumba

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IND vs ZIM Key Battles

Shubman Gill vs Blessing Musarabani

Gill will open the batting for India and will have the challenge of facing the tall pacer Musarabani. It will be interesting to see how he copes with the challenge as he is playing international cricket after a long time.

Riyan Parag vs Richard Ngarava

Parag earned his maiden national call-up after his consistent performances in IPL 2024. He will have a challenge on his hands on how he plays the Zimbabwean especially the left-arm pacer of Richard Ngarava.

Sikandar Raza vs Harshit Rana

Rana is included for just the first two games and hence he might play in both the games. His battle with skipper Sikandar Raza should be a fascinating contest.

IND vs ZIM Key Players 

India: With the senior players rested, Shubman Gill becomes the key batter for India. Alongside him, Rinku Singh, Sai Sudharsan, and Riyan Parag are key. Avesh Khan, Khaleel Ahmed, Harshitr Rana, and Ravi Bishnoi are the key bowlers.

Zimbabwe: Sikandar Raza their skipper is the most experienced player in the side. He will need the support of players like Blessing Musarabani, Richard Ngarava, Luke Jongwe, Tendai Chatara, Wessly Madhevere, and Tadiwanashe Marumani.

IND vs ZIM Weather and Pitch Report

Harare has hosted 50 T20Is with 229 being the highest score posted batting first and almost 200 chased down batting second. The pitch should be a batting-friendly one in this T20I series. Talking about the weather conditions, the temperatures should be around 26 degrees in the afternoon and around 10 degrees in the evening with no chance of any rain.

Conclusion

Both teams should go hard in this first game and the series overall with the only motive to win it at any cost. This should be some inexperience for this relatively young and inexperienced Indian side.

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