Indian cricket team arrives for ODI series
THE Indian cricket team yesterday landed in Zimbabwe for the three One Day Internationals, which get underway this week.
India landed at the Robert Mugabe International Airport in Harare late yesterday afternoon ahead of the three matches scheduled for Thursday, Saturday and next Monday, with all the fixtures scheduled for Harare Sports Club.
The ODI series, India’s first in Zimbabwe since 2016, is part of the ICC ODI Super League, the qualification pathway for the 2023 Cricket World Cup to be held in the Asian country.
Regis Chakabva will once again lead Zimbabwe in three ODIs in the absence of regular skipper Craig Ervine who is out nursing a left hamstring tear. Chakabva was the captain when Zimbabwe won a three-match series against Bangladesh 2-1 in Harare.
India will be captained by KL Rahul who was a late inclusion into the squad. Initially, Shikhar Dhawan was named captain for the tour of Zimbabwe but the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced that Rahul, who had not played competitive cricket since 25 May had been cleared to play.
“The BCCI medical team has assessed KL Rahul and cleared him to play in the upcoming three-match ODI series in Zimbabwe. The AllIndia Senior Selection Committee has appointed him the captain of the side and named Shikhar Dhawan as his deputy,” a BCCI statement said.
VVS Laxman, the former India batter and current National Cricket Academy chief, will be head coach on the week-long tour of Zimbabwe. India’s 16-member squad is without Washington Sundar who is currently in the UK on a county stint.
Laxman is standing in for head coach Rahul Dravid, who has been given time to rest after back-to-back tours of the UK and the Caribbean.
Local cricket fans will, however, miss out on watching Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya and Mohammad Shami who are some of the notable absentees from India’s squad for the visit to the Southern African country.
Squads
Zimbabwe: Ryan Burl, Regis Chakabva (captain), Tanaka Chivanga, Bradley Evans, Luke Jongwe, Innocent Kaia, Takudzwanashe Kaitano, Clive Madande , Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, John Masara Tony Munyonga, Richard Ngarava, Victor Nyauchi, Sikandar Raza, Milton Shumba, Donald Tiripano
India: KL Rahul (Captain) Shikhar Dhawan (vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Deepak Chahar.
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