Sai Sudharsan, Harshit Rana, Jitesh Sharma replace T20 World Cup-winning players in India squad for first two T20Is vs Zimbabwe

India National Cricket Team will be without the services of Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube and Yashasvi Jaiswal for the first two T20Is against the Zimbabwe National Cricket Team. The trio, who was part of the team for the T20 World Cup 2024, are unlikely to reach Zimbabwe by the time the first game starts.

This is because the Indian team's departure from the Caribbean got delayed due to the storm and will be boarding the flight to India on Tuesday (2nd July). Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube and Yashasvi Jaiswal will be travelling to India first and then after a couple of days will depart for Zimbabwe.

In their place, the Board of Control for Cricket in India has added Sai Sudharsan, Jitesh Sharma and Harshit Rana as replacements. The rest of the India squad has left for Zimbabwe and it is expected that the trio will be soon on the flight to the country for the first two games. Releasing the official statement, BCCI stated:

"The Men's Selection Committee has named Sai Sudharsan, Jitesh Sharma and Harshit Rana as replacements for Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube and Yashasvi Jaiswal for the first two T20ls against Zimbabwe.

Originally slated to join the Zimbabwe-bound squad for the upcoming five-match T201 series starting Saturday, 6th July, the trio will travel to India first with the rest of the ICC T20 World Cup-winning Indian squad before departing for Harare."
Shivam Dube originally was not a part of the team as BCCI had named Sunrisers Hyderabad all-rounder Nitish Reddy in the team. However, the injury to the all-rounder meant that Dube got a nod ahead. He had a decent campaign in the T20 World Cup 2024 and played all the games for the team.

Shivam Dube played a magnificent cameo of 27 runs in the final and helped India win the final. On the other hand, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson didn't get a game in the tournament due to team combination and would be keen to make an impact in the last three games against Zimbabwe.

India is all set to play 5T20Is on their tour to Zimbabwe. The Team will be captained by Shubman Gill and is packed with the youngsters. IPL performers Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag and others have received their maiden call-up and they would be keen to make an impact with the bat and ball for the team.

This also marks a new era in Indian cricket as seniors Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja have announced their retirement from the T20Is. The series also begins the road for the T20 World Cup 2026 and the youngsters are likely to be the core.

Revised Indian squad for the Zimbabwe T20I series

Here's the revised Indian squad for the Zimbabwe T20I series:

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