During India’s tour of Zimbabwe, Riyan Parag had a heartwarming moment when his father Parag Das gave him his debut India cap. This was a historic milestone as Riyan became the first player from Assam to play for the Indian team.

Riyan, a young all-rounder received his debut India cap from his father, who is a former first class cricketer for Assam. The father and son shared a joyful hug, making it a dream come true moment as Riyan prepared to represent India in the first T20I against Zimbabwe.

This achievement is significant as Riyan is the first player from the Northeast to play for the country. His journey began with his appearance for India at the U-19 World Cup in 2018. The following year, he joined the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and has since become a key player for the team.

Parag’s Impressive Performance in IPL 2024

Riyan’s exceptional skills were evident in the last domestic season. He led the charts in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20, scoring 510 runs at a strike rate of 182.79 and taking 11 wickets. His impressive performances continued in the Deodhar Trophy, where he scored 354 runs in five matches and took 11 wickets.

In the Ranji Trophy, he scored 378 runs at an average of 75.60 in four matches, including two centuries. In IPL 2024, he earned the Orange Cap in the initial games and finished the season as the highest scorer for his team and third overall, with 573 runs at a strike rate of 149.22.

Along with Riyan Parag, two other young talents, Dhruv Jurel and Abhishek Sharma, also made their India debuts in the first T20I against Zimbabwe on July 6. Shubman Gill was leading the team, won the toss and chose to bowl first in the series opener.

Shubman Gill, leading a young Indian team without senior players, has announced the opening pair for the first T20I against Zimbabwe. This series marks the beginning of a new era for Indian cricket, kicking off their preparations for the T20 World Cup 2026.

Gill himself will open alongside the in-form Abhishek Sharma in the series opener at Harare Sports Club on Saturday, July 6th.

“I will open with Abhishek Sharma, and Ruturaj Gaikwad will bat at No. 3,” Gill told reporters on the eve of the match.

Abhishek Sharma Prepares for Maiden T20I Cap Alongside Gill

Abhishek, known for his explosive batting in the IPL with 484 runs at a stunning strike rate of 204.22, will earn his first T20I cap. The left hander’s aggressive batting style in the powerplay overs could be crucial in Harare’s slower conditions. His debut is well-deserved, and the young player from Punjab is expected to capture attention with his attacking approach.

In this series against Zimbabwe, India has rested most of their World Cup-winning players such as Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Ravindra Jadeja.

Only five members are Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Yashavi Jaiswal, Khaleel Ahmed, and Sanju Samson included in the squad. However, Dube, Jaiswal, and Samson, who were part of the main World Cup squad, will miss the first two T20Is due to extended celebrations following their victory. Jitesh Sharma, Sai Sudharshan, and Harshit Rana will replace them for these matches.

India’s revised squad for the Zimbabwe tour

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

India vs Zimbabwe 2024 schedule

1st T20I on July 6, Saturday
2nd T20I on July 7, Sunday
3rd T20I on July 10, Wednesday
4th T20I on July 13, Saturday
5th T20I on July 14, Sunday

After an impressive IPL 2022 where he represented Delhi Capitals, Kuldeep Yadav hoped to carry his form into international cricket and was selected for T20I series against South Africa at home but an injury he picked while batting in the nets put paid to his hopes. He had a big wicket to his name, he dismissed Sikandar Raza, who is a good player.

Kuldeep eventually missed out the England tour as well but then recovered in time for the white-ball matches against West Indies. He played in just one game during the tour but left quite an impression with figures of 3/12 in the fifth and final T20I. As he continued, “There were quite a few boundaries scored off him. He was expensive, conceded the most runs if we talk about the bowlers, gave 49 runs in eight overs.

Also Read: Asia Cup 2022: Will Skipper Rohit Sharma Find Pace Balance in Bowling without Bumrah?

Kuldeep should try to go for wickets rather than saving his economy

He then made the cut for the ongoing short tour of Zimbabwe and has played in both the ODIs so far. In the first match, despite bowling well, he went wicketless. In the second contest though, he picked up a wicket but was expensive. Leaking 49 runs in eight overs even as Zimbabwe were skittled for 161.

Former India cricketer Mohammed Kaif pins this down to Kuldeep’s confused state of mind as he’s unable to decide whether to bowl quick or slow. “He is a bit confused whether to bowl quick or slow,” Kaif said on Sony Sports. “He has this new strategy to bowl fast, he wants to keep the speed around 90 kph. There were times when the balls were pitched short. So (Sean) Williams played the pull shots and when he flighted the ball, he was driven.”

However, Kaif feels that Kuldeep will continue getting better if he’s given more matches. “He missed a caught-and-bowled chance and for that, he will be disappointed. However, the rhythm is visible (in his bowling). He did bowl well against the West Indies and will get better as he plays more matches. He hasn’t been playing regularly,” he said.

IND VS ZIM: Captain KL Rahul would expect to get some significant batting time as the Indian team is supposed to recalibrate its goals to some challenge for itself in the remaining two ODIs against Zimbabwe.

The gap between the two teams would always make these kinds of bilateral challenges unbalanced, however bigger goals for the ‘Men In Blue’ would be to push the limits.

The immediate target for the side is to attempt and bat first in case Rahul wins the toss in Saturday’s second ODI.

The solid beginning on a bouncy track and adequate nip in the air would pose some challenge for the batters. There won’t be any Jimmy Anderson or Josh Hazlewood at play however and still, at the end of the day battling the conditions would be a good test for Rahul and his players.

Deepak Chahar had pointed out after the first game that there is little help for the bowlers during the second session and the only time there’s a challenge for players is the first hour of the match. Prior to confronting the might of Shaheen Shah Afridi in Asia Cup, a morning meeting with deliveries moving both sides, yet with a gentle speed, would be a decent enough extended net session for Rahul.

While ‘Captain Rahul’ showed his elder statesman like qualities by allowing Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill to open in the first game, the ‘Batter Rahul’ also needs to get his priorities straight before the Asia Cup.

He needs to quickly adjust to Team India’s “attack at all costs from the onset” reasoning and that can’t simply work out overnight.

Against a side like Zimbabwe, which isn’t sufficient to challenge a top Indian domestic side, Rahul would get an ideal chance to try different things with his batting.

Likewise, Deepak Hooda, whenever allowed an opportunity to bat up the order, can also build his confidence. Then there is Sanju Samson, If he plays at No.4, it gives him adequate scope to build an innings of significance.

For acting head coach VVS Laxman, as much as he would like to experiment, he wouldn’t mind winning the series first prior to allowing a part of the reserves an opportunity to challenge themselves.

ALSO READ: Rodrigues Ruled Out Of The Hundred With Injury

Consequently a left-right mix of Ishan Kishan and KL Rahul won’t be a bad choice if Shikhar Dhawan’s forearm injury sustained towards the end of the match ends up being serious. Winning the series is important however, creating different kinds of situations and testing the game awareness of the younger lot in pressure scenarios ought to be on the agenda.

Deepak Chahar bowling seven overs at one stretch is a good sign and shows that he is steadily building up his workload. Essentially, Prasidh Krishna might want to attempt a few more variations than his back of the length stuff while Mohammed Siraj wouldn’t fret a few more wickets.

Just like batting in morning could be difficult for Rahul and Co. bowling in the warm afternoon conditions with no lateral movement on offer would test the character of pacers and their spontaneity.

ZIM vs IND,1st ODI: India 192 for 0 (Gill 82*, Dhawan 81*) beat Zimbabwe 189 (Chakabva 35, Ngarava 34, Axar 3-24, Chahar 3-27, Prasidh 3-50) by 10 wickets

Deepak Chahar, examining new-ball spell on his impressive return after six months followed by a century stand between in-form openers Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill plunged Zimbabwe to their thirteenth consecutive ODI defeat to India. Chahar’s swing, Prasidh Krishna’s bounce and Axar Patel’s accuracy assisted them with sacking three wickets each to bowl the hosts out for 189 before Dhawan and Gill chased the target down with almost 20 overs to spare.

India’s pace bowlers used the early moisture and swing to trouble Zimbabwe’s top order

Which had scarcely scored against Bangladesh as well. Chahar and Co. restricted Zimbabwe to 31 for 4 and then 110 for 8 after a counter-attacking 9th-wicket stand of 70 off 65 balls between Brad Evans and Richard Ngarava lifted them to a fairly respectable total.

Chahar began gingerly before he sent back the hosts’ top order in an opening explosion of 7-0-27-3, in which he swung the ball the two different ways and had Innocent Kaia and Tadiwanashe Marumani caught behind by 9th over. Seven balls after Marumani fell in the ninth over, the returning Sean Williams lasted just three balls when he edged Mohammed Siraj to first slip. Five balls later, Chahar’s late outswing beat Wessley Madhevere to trap him lbw for 5, and Zimbabwe were four down in 10.1 overs.

It was down to Chakabva and Raza once more. Chakabva imparted some certainty when he slammed three fours in about eight balls, and both the batters utilised the DRS to get on-field lbw decisions overturned off Chahar and Kuldeep Yadav, respectively. Yet, Prasidh’s double strike dented Zimbabwe further when he had Raza gotten at slip and Ryan Burl threw his wicket by holing out on the leg side to leave the hosts reeling on 83 for 6.

When Axar struck in progressive overs by dismissing Chakabva and Luke Jongwe, it looked like  Zimbabwe would be skittled for under 150, however Ngarava and Evans retaliated with a whirlwind of boundaries off both speed and spin as conditions improved for batting. They began by rotating the strike and afterward changed to clean hitting to force bowling changes on India.

Evans was more attacking  of the two while Ngarava began slowly yet got pace as the stand approached the 50-mark and, surprisingly, swung Axar for a gigantic six over long on before he was bowled by Prasidh in the 40th over. Axar took the last wicket, which was also his 50th in ODIs.

ALSO READ: Siraj roped in by Warwickshire County Cricket!

Dhawan was beaten a few times by Victor Nyauchi’s outswingers early on, but he also attacked with pulls and cuts at whatever point the bowlers pitched it short. He also got a life on 32 in the thirteenth over when he was dropped at square leg off Williams. He soon reached his 38th ODI fifty, his third in four innings, when Gill had also opened up with three fours in the square region on the off side in one Evans over.

Gill started attacking more when he approached his fifty and raised the milestone by dispatching two full tosses from Burl through the covers in the 25th over. He began the following over with a four and a six through and over midwicket that took India to 150, and he even surpassed Dhawan in the following over. As boundaries came all the more effectively, Dhawan hit the winning runs by hauling Evans behind square to stay unbeaten on 81 with Gill on 82 not out.

The announcement the by the All-Rounder-Senior -Selection-Committee stated that Ahmed has replaced the wounded player Sundar for the upcoming match of the ODI series against Zimbabwe starting from August 18, Harare

“Washington Sundar injured his shoulder while playing a County game in England. He has been ruled out of the Zimbabwe tour,”

the statement read

India will face Zimbabwe in the ODI at the Harare Sports Club on August 18, 2022.

Previously it was stated that Shikhar Dhawan would be leading India for the games against Zimbabwe but now KL Rahul was found to be fit and he will take the charge.

Team India had departed for Zimbabwe on Saturday. The official Twitter handle of BCCI also shared pictures of the team leaving for Zimbabwe.

Recently Dhawan confronted the West Indies and took India to a 3-0 win. Dhawan had an alarming partnership in the opening over with Shubman Gill.

On the other hand, Zimbabwe had defeated Bangladesh in both the ODI and T20I series.

The Team India for the upcoming 3 ODIs: KL Rahul (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan (vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Mohd Siraj, Deepak Chahar, Shahbaz Ahmed.

Sundar has had a rough last 12 months as he missed one series after one more because of various types of injuries as well as Covid-19-related issues. His saga of endless injuries began back in July 2021 when he had a broken finger while batting for Combined Counties against the Indian team in a warm-up game.

That injury prompted him missing the entire domestic season and afterward before the white ball series in South Africa in January 2022, he was down with Covid. After a month, he missed the twin white ball home series against West Indies and Sri Lanka after a hamstring injury.

During IPL in April and May, he split his webbing and missed out five games for Sunrisers Hyderabad. After extensive rehabilitation, the BCCI played a role in getting him a county deal with Lancashire.

ALSO READ : Former BCCI Acting Secretary, Amitabh Chaudhury passed away

Prior, KL Rahul was cleared by the BCCI medical team to play in the forthcoming three-match ODI series. The selection committee has designated him the captain of the side and named Shikhar Dhawan as his deputy.

While there will be no Rahul Dravid heading the team of support staff for the short three-match series, beginning August 18 in Harare, NCA head VVS Laxman is close to 100% to follow the outline set by the head coach.