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Shubman Gill is likely to captain India in the upcoming five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe, starting from July 6 onwards. The 24-year-old, who wasn't part of the 15-member Indian squad in the T20 World Cup 2024, is expected to lead the team in the absence of Rohit Sharma, who will get a break from the sport next month.
As per the report from the Indian Express, the selection committee spoke with Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav, who are currently playing the T20 World Cup 2024 in the Caribbean, about whether they wanted to make the journey to Zimbabwe, but these two players declined the offer. Notably, the selection committee has already chosen a provisional 20-member squad for the Zimbabwe tour next month.
Some of the players who are expected to travel to the African nation to play the five-match T20I series could include names like Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Tushar Deshpande, and Harshit Rana, among others, who were quite impressive in the recently concluded IPL 2024 season. It is also reported that a few of the players, who are currently in the Caribbean with the Indian T20 World Cup 2024 squad, will also go to Zimbabwe, including Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Rinku Singh.
With the departure of Rahul Dravid from the Indian head coach role at the conclusion of the T20 World Cup 2024, the BCCI is looking to appoint VVS Laxman, the head of cricket at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), in his place for the Zimbabwe tour. The new head coach is likely to join the Indian cricket team on their next tour, which will begin in Sri Lanka from July 27 onwards.
All the five T20I matches between India and Zimbabwe will be played at the Harare Sports Club in Harare next month.
