India vs Zimbabwe, India Playing 11 vs Zimbabwe (Predicted), 1st ODI, India Tour Of Zimbabwe 2022

India vs Zimbabwe, India Playing 11 vs Zimbabwe (Predicted), 1st ODI, India Tour Of Zimbabwe 2022. India is set to take on hosts Zimbabwe in the first ODI of the series, on August 18, Thursday. The match is set to take place at the Harare Sports Club and is scheduled to begin at 12:45 pm IST (Indian Standard Time). The 2nd and 3rd ODI will take place on August 20 and 22 respectively. All the matches will take place at Harare Sports Club in  Harare.

India is on a 12-match winning streak against Zimbabwe in ODIs with 11 of them on Zimbabwe soil. India beat England (2-1) and West Indies (3-0) in their most recent ODI series on away soil. Zimbabwe beat Bangladesh in the ODIs (2-1) and T20Is (2-1) at home recently.

India will be led by returning KL Rahul after a long injury-ridden gap. Experienced campaigner Shikhar Dhawan will serve as his deputy and partner him at the top of the order. Deepak Hooda, Shubman Gill, and Sanju Samson showcased their skills and are expected to slot in the middle order for the team with Axar Patel expected to be the all-rounder lower down the order.

Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, and Deepak Chahar are expected to slot in as the first-choice pacers in this match with Shardul Thakur and Avesh Khan available as backup options for the team. Axar Patel will partner with Kuldeep Yadav to take care of the spin department. Spin all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed received his maiden India call-up as he replaced an injured Washington Sundar for the three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe.

Along with KL Rahul, a lot of focus would also be on Deepak Chahar, who too is returning from an injury. Shubman Gill might just have to drop down the order to make room for skipper KL Rahul at the top, but he will aim to continue the rich form that earned him a Man of the Series award against West Indies. India has a massively dominant record against Zimbabwe in ODIs. Out of 63 ODIs, India has won 51, and Zimbabwe has only 10 victories. Two games have ended in ties.

Rahul Tripathi will be the biggest benefactor from the seniors’ absence. He was named in the India squad for Ireland and did not play any game. So when his chance arrives at Harare, the right-hander, who has been a wonderful scorer in IPL and domestic cricket, will be eager to get his game going in international cricket too.

The biggest headache for the Indian management will be Shubman Gill’s batting position. He did well in the last ODI series against West Indies, but demoting him down the order seems to be the best choice with KL Rahul back in the squad.

KL Rahul will head to Dubai for Asia Cup and he needs to have as many match practices as possible before the Pakistan match. KL Rahul hasn’t played any competitive cricket since IPL 2022 due to sports hernia surgery and then Covid-19.

India vs Zimbabwe, India Playing 11 vs Zimbabwe (Predicted), 1st ODI, India Tour Of Zimbabwe 2022

KL Rahul

KL Rahul was selected captain of the 16-man squad for the three-match One-Day International series against Zimbabwe, which begins on August 18.

KL Rahul has not played competitive cricket since leading Lucknow Super Giants to the IPL 2022 playoffs. KL Rahul underwent sports hernia surgery in Germany after being ruled out of the 5-match T20I series against South Africa at home.

KL Rahul also missed the crucial trip to England and was ruled out of the West Indies tour after contracting Covid-19 while undergoing rehabilitation in Bengaluru. He has amassed 1634 runs in 42 ODIs averaging 46.69 including 5 tons.

Shikhar Dhawan

Shikhar Dhawan opened the innings with Rohit Sharma in the ODIs against England. He made scores of 31 not out, 9, and 1 in the England ODIs, where he averaged a paltry 20.5 amassing 41 runs. He top scored in the 1st ODI against hosts West Indies while opening with Shubman Gill.

His 97 of 99 balls consisted of 10 fours and 3 sixes. He was disappointed after missing out on a century. He scored only 13 off 31 balls in the 2nd ODI and 58 off 74 balls in the 3rd ODI to be the 2nd highest run scorer after fellow opener Shubman Gill in the series with 168 runs averaging 56.

Deepak Hooda

Deepak Hooda, who has scored a ton against Ireland in T20Is, scored 115 runs in 5 ODIs averaging 38.33. Deepak Hooda made his ODI debut against West Indies in February this year and played a couple of games. He scored 60 runs averaging 30 in the 3-match ODI series on the West Indies tour besides picking up a solitary scalp.

Shubman Gill

Shubman Gill scored 64 runs off 53 balls -his maiden ODI fifty – before being run out by Nicholas Poooran in the 1st ODI won by India against West Indies. His innings comprised 6 fours and 2 sixes.

Shubman Gill followed his 64 with another excellent inning of 43 off 49 balls including 5 fours in the 2nd ODI. In the 3rd ODI, he was unfortunate to miss out on a ton as he scored an unbeaten 98 off as many balls before rain interruptions. He was Man of the series against Windies amassing most runs -205, but may not open this time around against Zimbabwe.

Sanju Samson

Sanju Samson played only 1 ODI in Sri Lanka 2021 tour where he scored 46 runs before managing 72 runs in 3 matches on the West Indies tour. He has scored 118 ODI runs so far averaging 39.33 and will be prefered to bat in the middle order. He will compete for a spot in the XI with keeper Ishan Kishan and uncapped Rahul Tripathi.

Ishan Kishan (WK)

Ishan Kishan who has played 19 T20Is has played only 3 ODIs so far where he amassed 88 runs averaging 29.33 with a highest of 59. The left-hander, however, has been quite consistent, with 543 runs in 19 T20Is at an average of 30.17 and a strike rate of 131.16. He will compete for the middle order slot with uncapped Rahul Tripathi.

Axar Patel

Axar Patel scored 85 runs in 2 ODI innings playing the 3 ODI matches on the West Indies tour, besides picking 2 scalps. He has picked up 47 scalps in 41 ODIs averaging 32.55 and scored 266 runs averaging 17.73. Axar Patel was the Man of the Match in the 2nd ODI against West Indies, picking 1/40 bowling 9 overs besides scoring an all-important 35-ball unbeaten career-best 64 which was pivotal to India’s come-from-behind victory chasing 312. His innings comprised 3 fours and 5 sixes.

Mohammed Siraj

Ever since he made his ODI debut in 2019, Mohammed Siraj has only been able to play 8 ODI matches, taking 11 wickets at an economy rate of 5.19 averaging 32.09, with his best bowling figures being 3/29 against the West Indies during the home series earlier this year. He picked 4 scalps in 3 ODIs in the recent West Indies tour, averaging 29.5.

Prasidh Krishna

Prasidh Krishna has played 12 ODI matches for India, the only format he has made his presence in the Indian colours so far. He has snapped 21 wickets in 12 games at an average of 24.76 and an economy rate of 5.3. He may be given another chance in the Zimbabwe series despite poor outings on England tour (2 scalps averaging 63.5) and West Indies tour (1 scalp averaging 92).

The tall pacer was adjudged the Player of the Series in the home series against West Indies earlier this year. In that home bilateral series, Prasidh Krishna had registered his best ODI bowling figures of 4/12. Prasidh Krishna’s nine wickets in the series had come at an average of 7.56, an economy rate of 2.5, and a strike rate of 18.11.

Deepak Chahar

Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep Yadav’s comeback performance in IPL 2022, in which he bowled more quickly and confidently while scooping up 21 wickets for Delhi Capitals, was a very encouraging sight. During India’s T20I series against South Africa in June, many people anticipated that his illustrious streak would continue. But due to a hand injury, he was unable to play in the series, go to Ireland and England, or the ODIs against the West Indies.

In the fifth T20I match against the West Indies in Lauderhill, he finally got his chance, capturing three wickets in an outstanding bowling display in which spinners claimed all 10 wickets. In 66 ODIs, he has picked 109 scalps averaging 28.29 at an economy of 5.24. In T20Is, his average is an incredible 14.02 as he picked 44 scalps in only 25 T20Is.