India National Cricket Team vs Zimbabwe National Cricket Team Timeline
Shubman Gill will lead India against Zimbabwe in five T20I matches starting February 6. Mukesh Kumar and Riyan Parag are set to serve as regulars while Riyan Parag and Abhishek Sharma received first calls-up.
18.6: Avesh Khan to Clive Madande: Length ball off-stump; Madande shuffles across and guides it for a single. India national cricket team vs Zimbabwe national cricket team timeline. 12 required off the final over.
ODIs
After winning the ODI series, India will switch gears for its five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe. Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal – members of Team India’s winning World T20 squad – are present here as are several younger players such as Riyan Parag and Abhishek Sharma who received first India selection calls during this Zimbabwe tour.
Shubman Gill’s revamped Indian side arrived in Harare on Thursday with interim coach VVS Laxman as part of their training regime. Pictures posted to BCCI social media accounts showed Prasidh Krishna, Shikhar Dhawan, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rahul Tripathi boarding their flight for Zimbabwe; NCA chief VVS Laxman also joined them, suggesting he will act as interim head coach of Men in Blue.
Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo will host all three One Day Internationals between Zimbabwe and Ireland. The first match will start at 1:00 PM IST while subsequent ones start at 4:00 PM and 5:00 PM respectively. Each side will look to secure an early advantage in this three-match series by winning at least two out of the three matches.
Last time these teams faced each other, Zimbabwe edged India out in an ODI before India won two more to claim a series win. Since then, India have won all other four matches to complete a 6-0 sweep; their next encounter will take place in Delhi in October for another ODI. This will be their last opportunity before competing in England and Wales at the 2019 World Cup. Pakistan currently sits third on the ICC Men’s ODI rankings while Zimbabwe are 13th; thanks to recent series wins, Zimbabwe have moved up one position and are now seventh. The top eight teams will qualify directly for the 2019 ICC World Cup while a ninth-placed team may be eligible for a playoff berth. A 2-0 series victory for India would give their chances of reaching the World Cup final a huge boost; but losing would put them in jeopardy of missing out altogether.
T20Is
Zimbabwe are keen to erase their poor start at the World Cup and build confidence ahead of future tournaments, so have chosen a young squad for a five-match T20I series against India starting July 6 at Harare Sports Club. Shubman Gill will lead a squad boasting many youngsters who excelled during IPL 2024 competition.
Following the retirements of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja from T20I cricket, this tour has assumed even greater significance. Performances by Riyan Parag and Abhishek Sharma during IPL competition earned them maiden India call-ups; both could possibly open the batting alongside Ruturaj Gaikwad and Abhishek Sharma while Sanju Samson or Dhruv Jurel may provide wicket keeping cover.
Washington Sundar and Ravi Bishnoi will represent India as spinners while Avesh Khan, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar and Tushar Deshpande will represent them on seam bowling duties. Given India’s struggles at starting off this year, this will provide them with an opportunity to redeem themselves.
The five T20Is will begin at Harare Sports Club starting at 4:30 PM (India time). All matches will be broadcast live on Sony Sports Network India as well as streamable through Sony LIV app.
India and Zimbabwe T20Is will be broadcast live on Sony TEN 5 and Sony TEN 3, featuring English commentary, while their Hindi feed can be found on Sony LIV in other countries. Zimbabwe-India T20Is will take place at 9 PM both Wednesday and Thursday with Zimbabwe-India being the opening match. Four more matches between both teams will follow each Friday (Zimbabwe-India), Sunday (4PM), Monday (12AM) and Tuesday. A further T20I between these sides will also take place between 4PM on Sunday (4PM on Sunday). All other fixtures between 9PM Wednesday or Thursday will feature their final T20I between 4PM on Sunday before proceeding into subsequent fixtures played Monday through Wednesday (or possibly prior).
T20I Series
Shubman Gill will lead an India side that hopes to make an impressionful statement at the T20I series in Zimbabwe, starting July 13 at 4:30 PM IST with its opening match live-streamed on SonyLIV app. Sikandar Raza leads Zimbabwe whose T20 World Cup qualifying chances were hindered last month.
Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Washington Sundar and Ravi Bishnoi were all stand-out performers during IPL 2024 and have added depth to India’s team. Shubman Gill will look to assert his authority as new captain of Indian T20 side; though he was unsuccessful as Gujarat Titans’ captain. NCA chief VVS Laxman will serve as stand-in head coach throughout their tour of Zimbabwe.
All games of the T20I series will take place at Harare Sports Club in Zimbabwe due to a change in international dates; thus the schedule has been altered accordingly: originally set for 9-11-12 December but now moved up until Tuesday 17 December; the T20Is originally slated for Friday and Saturday are now held on Wednesday/Thursday instead.
India’s second-string side will keep an eye on Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja after they announced their retirement from T20I cricket. Young players in their squad may look to shine; perhaps this series could provide insight into which player will replace Rohit as captain when he returns from his well-deserved break. Even without their expertise though, India should still remain formidable on home soil with Shubman Gill alongside Ruturaj Gaikwad, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rinku Singh in their ranks besides Shubman Gill alone!
Final
Harare Sports Club Ground in Harare will host the fifth and final match of this series. India will look to close out their match and take control of this series by dominating like they did in game two – they showed some aggressive cricket in that contest which they will look to replicate once more here.
Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza won the toss and invited India to bat first. Abhishek Sharma began well, hitting two sixes off two successive balls including one off a no-ball from Raza, but could not build upon this early success. Soon thereafter he was dismissed by Blessing Muzarabani with a short ball that angled across his bat to catch him behind and soon afterwards by captain Shubman Gill being bowled by Richard Ngarava delivery that struck against his stumps.
Zimbabwe showed improvement with both bat and bowl in their last international, despite defeat by South Africa and Bangladesh. This could be seen through Lance Klusener and Shaun Pollock making half-centuries in South Africa’s first innings against them; however, they struggled to build on these solid starts in their chase against South Africa before eventually being bowled out for 233 runs in pursuit.
Zimbabwe fell to 40 for 6 in their second innings before opener Neil Johnson hit an outstanding 76 to help close on 247 for 6. They would go on to lose each of their remaining four matches against South Africa and Bangladesh to finish with only three points overall.
Zimbabwe, after winning their maiden ODI series against Australia in 2008-09, made tours to Sri Lanka and Pakistan, but struggled to make an impressionful impression against either side. Their subsequent home defeat by both teams, plus heavy defeat against South Africa and Australia further compounded this disappointing performance.
Now that Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are retiring from T20 cricket, India’s youngsters have an ideal opportunity to prove themselves during this five-match series. Riyan Parag and Mukesh Kumar may well earn regular places in the side.
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