India squad for Zimbabwe tour announced, Shubman Gill to lead, Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag earn maiden call-up

The BCCI, on Monday (June 24), announced the India squad for the upcoming five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe. The Men in Blue will visit Zimbabwe next month for the limited-overs series.

As expected, the Ajit Agarkar-led panel has picked a second-string side for the tour. With the Indian team currently playing in the T20 World Cup, it was very much expected that most of the players in the World Cup squad would be rested for the series against Zimbabwe. As a result, Shubman Gill has been named the captain for the upcoming series as the likes of Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Hardik Pandya have been rested.

Last year, Pandya and Suryakumar had led the team in T20Is in Rohit's absence and with both of them not a part of the squad for the Zimbabwe series, the responsibility has been given to Gill. While Gill has never led the Indian team, he does have the experience of leading a team. Earlier this year, he led Gujarat Titans in the IPL.

India squad for Zimbabwe tour:

Only two players from India's T20 World Cup squad have been named in the squad for the India vs Zimbabwe series. The players are Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson. Incidentally, neither Jaiswal nor Samson has played a game so far in the competition and it is highly unlikely that they will get the chance in the playing eleven for the remainder of the competition.

The selectors have also handed maiden call-ups to several players such as Abhishek Sharma, Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Reddy, Riyan Parag, and Tushar Deshpande. All the players had a brilliant outing in the IPL this year and have been rewarded for their performance. 

Meanwhile, the series between India and Zimbabwe will be taking place from July 6 to 14. All the games will be played in Harare. 

India squad for Zimbabwe series:

Ꮪhubman Gill (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhishek Sharma, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Nitish Reddy, Riyan Parag, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, Tushar Deshpande.

Squad: Ꮪhubman Gill (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhishek Sharma, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Nitish Reddy, Riyan Parag, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, Tushar Deshpande.#TeamIndia | #ZIMvIND

— BCCI (@BCCI) June 24, 2024