After suffering humiliating whitewashes to Ireland and England, India now travel to southern Africa to meet Zimbabwe in a three-match T20I series starting on Thursday, July 23 at the Harare Sports Club. After their recent 0-2 and 0-4 hammerings to Ireland and England, respectively, India also lost an ODI series 1-2 to England. In Zimbabwe, regular coach Gautam Gambhir has been rested, with famous batter and former Hyderabad captain VVS Laxman tasked with the job.
Shreyas Iyer, who was famously made captain after Suryakumar Yadav was stripped of his role earlier this year, will continue being the skipper of this beleaguered side. Iyer has now lost his first two series in charge, suffering whitewashes in both of them. India will look to change their approach in this outing, and hope that they do not carry bad memories from the British Isles. There is expected to be a change in their batting order since Sanju Samson has been dropped from the squad.
This means that the young Vaibhav Sooryavanshi might get a look-in; he will open the batting with Abhishek Sharma, who has blown hot and cold throughout his career. The explosive but inconsistent Ishan Kishan will bat at number three, followed by captain Iyer. Zimbabwe have quite a few bases to cover as well, since they come into this series after being defeated 1-2 by Bangladesh in T20Is. That came as a shock to Sikandar Raza's men as they had earlier beaten the Bangladeshis in a one-off Test as well as in an ODI series.
Naturally, they will look to regroup and what better time to do so than against a struggling Indian side? Dion Myers, Ryan Burl and Brian Bennett will help Raza out in the batting department while Richard Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani will head the bowling unit. Muzarabani has acted as a good foil for the expressive Ngarava, who can get the ball to swing both ways. Brad Evans, a handy all-rounder, can be useful for Raza in the middle overs.
Predicted Teams
ZIM: Brian Bennett,
Tadiwanashe Marumani (wk),
Dion Myers,
Sikandar Raza (c),
Ryan Burl,
Milton Shumba,
Clive Madande,
Brad Evans,
Tinotenda Maposa,
Richard Ngarava,
Blessing Muzarabani.
IND: Abhishek Sharma,
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi,
Ishan Kishan (wk)
Shreyas Iyer (c),
Tilak Varma,
Shivam Dube,
Rinku Singh,
Ravi Bishnoi,
Harsh Dubey,
Prince Yadav,
Mayank Yadav.
Key Players
Ryan Burl (ZIM): Ryan Burl is one of the most unassuming cricketers in the world. In this Zimbabwean side, he occupies a key role since he is an all-rounder. With the bat in hand, he is expected to rotate the strike straight away after coming into the crease. With the ball in hand, whenever captain Raza needs him, Burl is expected to pick up wickets with his leg breaks and hand an advantage to his team.
Ishan Kishan (IND): Ishan Kishan is one of the biggest stars of this Indian batting unit. The southpaw usually bats at number three, and can be quite explosive, especially against the new ball. Kishan likes to make use of the fielding restrictions during the power play, which is when his best gameplay comes out. However, he has been inconsistent of late. If he can remedy that, Zimbabwe will be in for a leather hunt.
Match Prediction
Zimbabwe know how badly India suffered at the hands of Ireland and England. India's defeat to the former side, especially, will give Zimbabwe a much-needed boost in confidence, since Ireland too can be considered an inexperienced unit. Captain Raza will ensure that his wards watch the videos of that series and instil some belief. The home team are expected to win. India have selected a highly inexperienced squad for this series, with their bowling unit appearing bare. Only their batters have played some international cricket before. Zimbabwe, in comparison, are more well-rounded.