The squad features emerging talent such as Riyan Parag and Abhishek Sharma, who have earned their maiden call-up to the Indian team following their impressive performances in the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) season.
In a video posted on Zimbabwe Cricket‘s ‘X’ handle, Laxman and his boys can be seen departing the Harare airport.
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A reserve in India’s T20 World Cup squad, Gill will reportedly join the team in Harare directly from the United States, where he was on a break.
Zimbabwe Cricket also shared images of the players lining up with their luggage outside the airport. Among those featured were Abhishek, Parag, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Avesh Khan, Tushar Deshpande and VVS Laxman, the head of the National Cricket Academy.
However, five squad members, namely Shivam Dube, Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rinku Singh, and Khaleel Ahmed, are scheduled to land in Delhi from Barbados early Thursday morning after the team was left stranded in Barbados because of hurricane ‘Beryl’.
Meanwhile, Sai Sudharsan, Jitesh Sharma and Harshit Rana were announced as replacements for Dube, Jaiswal and Samson for the first two T20I of the series.
India’s squad for the T20I series against Zimbabwe: Shubman Gill (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhishek Sharma, Rinku Singh, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Riyan Parag, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, Tushar Deshpande, Sai Sudharsan, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Harshit Rana
