Zimbabwe T20I Series: BCCI announces Squad, Rohit, Virat, Hardik rested, Shubman Gill to lead India

Young Guns Get Chance (File)

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the 15-member Indian squad for the five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe. Key players such as Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, and Suryakumar Yadav being rested. In the absence of regular skipper Rohit, Shubman Gill will lead the team.

Other notable names missing the series include Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, and Jasprit Bumrah, who are all competing in the ongoing T20 World Cup in the Americas but have been given a break before the demanding season.

The series kicks off on 6th July in Harare. The subsequent matches will take place on 7, 10, 13, and 14 July, all of which will be played in Harare. Shubman Gill will lead the team in the absence of regular skipper Rohit Sharma. Nitish Reddy, Riyan Parag, Abhishek Sharma, and Tushar Deshpande have earned their maiden national call-ups, rewarded for their exploits in the IPL.

The upcoming series will be played without the services of key pacers Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, and Arshdeep Singh, who have been given a well-deserved break. In their absence, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan, who were part of the standby group for the T20 World Cup, have been promoted to the main squad.

Another notable inclusion is Rinku Singh, a talented batsman who was surprisingly overlooked for the T20 World Cup squad for the tournaments held in the USA and West Indies. His selection comes as a relief to his supporters, who were disappointed by his earlier exclusion.

The 15-member squad also includes Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal, both of whom were part of the contingent during the T20 World Cup but did not feature in the playing eleven.

Regarding the newcomers, Abhishek and Parag dominated IPL 17 with their brilliant batting performances. Punjab batsman Abhishek, who represents Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL, scored 484 runs, while Rajasthan Royals' Parag, the first player from Assam to be picked in the senior Indian team, amassed 573 runs.

Squad: Shubman 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.