Toss India elected to field vs Zimbabwe
“Looks like a really good surface. We just want to get a look at the target and see how it goes,” Gill said at the toss while confirming the three debutants.
Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza said that he didn’t mind batting first on the Harare surface which had a nice firm covering of grass, while also stating that it was time for transition.
Parag had an excellent IPL 2024 for Rajasthan Royals, scoring 573 runs in 16 IPL games, with four fifties while striking at 149.21. He finished as the third-highest run-scorer in the tournament. Abhishek had lit up the IPL season too, finishing with 484 runs in 16 outings with a strike rate of 204.21. He hit 42 sixes in the tournament, more than any player in the season. Jurel gave a good account of himself in the Test series against England earlier this year, but had a lukewarm IPL season, where he scored 195 runs in 15 games, striking at 138.29.
Gill is expected to open the batting alongside Abhishek with Ruturaj Gaikwad slotted in at No. 3. Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar and Khaleel Ahmed are the three fast bowlers in the India side, while Ravi Bishnoi will lead the spin duties. Washington Sundar was slotted in as the allrounder.
For Zimbabwe, Blessing Muzarabani, Luke Jongwe and Tendai Chatara will lead the fast bowling unit. There was no place for Richard Ngarava, who is injured.
India: 1 Shubman Gill (capt), 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 4 Riyan Parag, 5 Rinku Singh, 6 Dhruv Jurel (wk), 7 Washington Sundar, 8 Ravi Bishnoi, 9 Avesh Khan, 10 Mukesh Kumar, 11 Khaleel Ahmed
Zimbabwe: 1 Tadiwanashe Marumani, 2 Innocent Kaia, 3 Brian Bennett, 4 Sikandar Raza (capt), 5 Dion Myers, 6 Johnathan Campbell, 7 Clive Madande (wk), 8 Wellington Masakadza, 9 Luke Jongwe, 10 Blessing Muzarabani, 11 Tendai Chatara