Big picture: Shreyas Iyer looking for first win
India’s batting group for the Zimbabwe tour is largely the same as the one that played in Ireland and England – sans Sanju Samson – and they will want to return to winning ways. But Iyer will perhaps be the first to remind his team that Zimbabwe are no pushovers on current form.
Having made it to the Super Eight at the T20 World Cup earlier this year, Zimbabwe built on that success to beat Bangladesh in the one-off Test and the ODI series. While they faltered in the T20Is, there have been enough signs of some kind of rejuvenation to piggyback on ahead of next year’s ODI World Cup that will return to Africa after 24 years.
There is also plenty of excitement around India’s bristling young pace bowling group, all of whom are capable of delivering thunderbolts. Of them, Mayank Yadav and Ashok Sharma are particularly promising. This is a chance for them to put in a body of work to widen India’s pace bowling stocks.
For the second straight year running, Zimbabwe have had a proper home season to speak of. And that has meant a lot more game time than they have been used to. Expectations in the wake of recent performances are at an all-time high. Sikandar Raza’s men tripped up India once during the 2024 tour. Can they now expose a slightly vulnerable team searching for the right formula?
Zimbabwe LLWLL (last five completed T20Is, most recent first)
India LLLLL
Team news: Shumba out of series
Zimbabwe (probable): 1 Brian Bennett, 2 Tadiwanshe Marumani (wk), 3 Dion Myers, 4 Wessly Madhevere, 5 Sikandar Raza (capt), 6 Ryan Burl, 7 Brad Evans, 8 Wellington Masakadza, 9 Newman Nyamhuri, 10 Richard Ngarava, 11 Blessing Muzarabani
India (probable): 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, 3 Ishan Kishan (wk), 4 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Shivam Dube, 8 Harsh Dubey, 9 Prince Yadav, 10 Mayank Yadav, 11 Yash Thakur/Ashok Sharma
Both captains expect the surface to have decent pace and carry. Wintry conditions in Harare could give fast bowlers a bit more of a say. In the recently concluded series, Bangladesh’s 186 was the highest in the six innings played. Expect more high totals. The weather is expected to be clear and sunny.
