Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Nitish Reddy and Tushar Deshpande have been selected in the Indian squad for the five-match T20I tour of Zimbabwe. Shubman Gill will lead the youthful squad which also features Dhruv Jurel and Khaleel Ahmed. The tour kicks off on July 6 at the Harare Sports Club, which will also host the remaining four matches over the course of next 8 days.
Full 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.
Punjab and Sunrisers Hyderabad batter Abhishek has earned his maiden call-up after a breakthrough IPL season this year, where he ended up as the highest six-hitter (42 in 16 games) in the tournament. Riyan, who was the third-highest run-getter of IPL 2024, also makes his way into the senior squad for the first time. Both the players offer a bit with the ball too.
The stature of Jurel, who had an impressive start to his Test career with a couple of high-pressure knocks against England, continues to grow. Although Jurel had an underwhelming IPL this year but his ability as a lower-order hitter seems to have punched his ticket.
Nitish Reddy’s all-round pedigree sees him make the cut as India eye a backup for the injury-prone Hardik Pandya. The SRH batter has proved his mettle with the bat but his bowling does remain a work in progress.
Tushar has impressed with his domestic performances apart from decent back-to-back seasons with the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL. Khaleel Ahmed, who made it to the travelling reserves of the T20 World Cup squad but hasn’t played an international match since 2019, makes a comeback.
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India’s squad for tour of Zimbabwe announced.#TeamIndia | #ZIMvIND
— BCCI (@BCCI) June 24, 2024
