India will find it tough to choose between Yashasvi Jaiswal’s seemingly effortless flamboyance and Abhishek Sharma’s uber-cool aggression at the top when they rejig their combination to make space for World Cup-winning squad members in the third T20 International against Zimbabwe in Harare on July 10.

The arrival of Jaiswal, Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube, all of whom were part of the main team during the title-winning run last month, gives the Indian team a formidable look in the most important game of the series as visitors look to press home the advantage after the booster shot of a series-levelling 100-run victory in the second match.

Abhishek, the left-handed opener, did enough to live up to his pre-series hype with a 46-ball century in only his second game and did look the part opening the innings.

However, Jaiswal, with a handsome strike rate of 161 plus in 17 T20I matches, including a hundred and four half-centuries, does have the first claim to be skipper Shubman Gill’s opening partner by virtue of being the reserve opener of the first-choice T20 team.

Although rare but it is not uncommon for batters to be dropped in the very next match after a milestone innings.

Case in point were Manoj Tiwary, immediately after his maiden ODI hundred against the West Indies in 2011, and Karun Nair after his triple hundred in a Test match against England in 2016.

But skipper Gill is unlikely to let that happen with his best friend since their U-14 days and someone who scored his first international ton with a willow borrowed from the former.

So, it could well be a case of one of the two southpaws batting at one drop. Sanju Samson, who normally bats at No. 3 for Rajasthan Royals, might come in at No.5, while Ruturaj Gaikwad, who batted at No.3, will probably drop down a place to No.4.

As far as the changes in the playing eleven are concerned, Jaiswal is likely to replace B Sai Sudharsan, who was selected only for the first two games.

Samson will come in place of Dhruv Jurel, who had a good outing behind the stumps.

Dube, the only player who was a part of T20 World Cup playing XI, is likely to walk in to replace Riyan Parag. The imposing batter could be an even bigger nemesis for the Zimbabwean spinners during the back-10.

As far as Zimbabwe is concerned, their batting has left a lot to be desired with scores of 115 while batting first and 134 in the second essay chasing 235.

On the Harare Sports Club track where there is a bit of extra bounce available for the spinners, Ravi Bishnoi (6/24 from 8 overs) and Washington Sundar (3/39 in 8 overs) have proved to be unplayable at times.

Bishnoi, who normally bowls 20 to 22 googlies in his 24 balls per match, has varied his pace brilliantly and with home skipper Sikandar Raza being kept quiet, the other batters haven’t looked good enough to counter the Indian bowling attack.

The 13-run shock defeat in the opener was a timely wake-up call for the young visiting side and it did well to play without five specialist bowlers in the second game where batting first became an advantage.

For skipper Gill, a good score would be a necessity after two dry games and he is just too good a player to fail thrice. That could prove to be an ominous sign for the home team bowlers, who don’t have even one guy with express pace.

In a nutshell, it could be another one-sided game.

Teams (from):

India: Shubman Gill (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhishek Sharma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Khaleel Ahmed, Tushar Deshpande.

Zimbabwe: Sikandar Raza (captain), Faraz Akram, Brian Bennett, Johnathan Campbell, Tendai Chatara, Luke Jongwe, Innocent Kaia, Clive Madande, Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Brandon Mavuta, Blessing Muzarabani, Dion Myers, Antum Naqvi, Richard Ngarava, Milton Shumba.

Match Starts at 4:30 pm IST.

Abhishek Sharma celebrates his century during the second T20I match against Zimbabwe, at Harare Sports Club in Harare on July 7, 2024.
| Photo Credit: ANI

India opener Abhishek Sharma has revealed that his mentor Yuvraj Singh was delighted when he got out for a duck on his T20I debut against Zimbabwe here as the swashbuckling former all-rounder, for reasons best known to him, felt it was a “good start”.

Making his India debut, Abhishek was out on duck as the Men in Blue lost the first T20I against hosts Zimbabwe by 13 runs on July 6. But the 23-year-old came back strongly to set the stage ablaze with a blistering maiden century (a 47-ball 100) to fashion India’s 100-run win in the second game a day later.

“I spoke to him yesterday (Saturday) also, and I don’t know why he was very happy when I got out on zero. He said that’s a good start but he must be very happy and proud just like my family,” Abhishek said in a video posted by BCCI.

He credited the hero of India’s 2011 World Cup triumph for not only helping him hone is skills on the cricket field but also supporting him in his life away from the field.

“It’s all because of him as well, the hard work he has put in (shaping) me. (For) two-three years, he has worked really hard not only on my cricket but off the field (life) as well.” After Sunday’s game, Abhishek called Yuvraj, who couldn’t be happier for the youngster.

“Well done very proud, you deserve it. Many more (such innings) to come this is just the start,” Yuvraj said.

Since there was no rest day in between the first two games, the visitors didn’t get a lot of time to think about the opening loss and that worked in India’s favour as they levelled the five-match series 1-1.

“We lost yesterday but I felt, today is my day and I should take the match to the end, the positive was that we didn’t have much time to think about the next game,” he pointed out.

Abhishek combined with Ruturaj Gaikwad (77 not out off 47 ball) for a match-winning 137-run stand for the second wicket.

“I was in a flow, and just wanted to express myself. I spoke to Rutu as well, he said the same thing that ‘don’t think much about the balls and hit what you think you can’,” he said.

He once again thanked India skipper on the tour and his Punjab teammate Shubman Gill for lending him his bat.

“Special thanks to Shubman who timely gave me his bat, this was a much-needed innings for me and the team.

“This has been going on from U-14 times. Whenever I play with his bat I have done well, today also, the same happened.

“I played with his bat only, which I got after a lot of difficulty, he doesn’t give it easily. That is like my last option when I feel I have to play with his bat for a comeback,” he quipped.

Abhishek Sharma announced his arrival on the big stage with a breathtaking 46-ball century as India pummelled Zimbabwe by a whopping 100 runs in the second T20I to restore parity in the five-game series.

This is India’s biggest victory in terms of runs against Zimbabwe in T20Is. The young Indian side didn’t carry the baggage of a shock-13-run defeat in the series-opener as India posted a mammoth 234 for two on a track where batting wasn’t exactly easy.

The ask was already stiff and Indian bowlers got breakthroughs at regular intervals to bowl out Zimbabwe for 134 in 18.4 overs to set the record straight.

Pacers Mukesh Kumar (3/37) and Avesh Khan (3/15) removed the top-order inside the Powerplay to kill the contest which became a formality after that.

The day, however, certainly belonged to Abhishek, who mixed grace and power in equal measure in an innings embellished with eight sixes and seven fours.

The SRH batter opened his international run account with a pulled six off-spinner Brian Bennett, who had got the better of him in the first T20I.

Abhishek got a reprieve on 27 when Wellington Masakadza dropped a regulation skier off Luke Jongwe. There was no catching the youngster after that.

The shot that was most pleasing to the eye was his inside out six off rival skipper Sikandar Raza, lofting his off-break with the turn over extra cover boundary. If that was elegance personified, the manner in which he muscled left-arm spinner Masakadza into the orbit with back-to-back sixes was a testimony to his brute power.

Abhishek raised his milestone hundred when he guided a wayward full-toss on leg-stump behind the square for a maximum before being dismissed off the very next delivery.

SCOREBOARD

INDIA

Shubman Gill c Bennett b Muzarabani 2 (4b), Abhishek Sharma c Myers b Masakadza 100 (47b, 7×4, 8×6), Ruturaj Gaikwad (not out) 77 (47b, 11×4, 1×6), Rinku Singh (not out) 48 (22b, 2×4, 5×6); Extras (w-7): 7; Total (for two wkts. in 20 overs): 234.

FALL OF WICKETS

1-10 (Gill, 1.2 overs), 2-147 (Abhishek, 13.6).

ZIMBABWE BOWLING

Bennett 2-0-22-0, Muzarabani 4-1-30-1, Chatara 4-0-38-0, Raza 3-0-34-0, Jongwe 4-0-53-0, Myers 1-0-28-0, Masakadza 2-0-29-1.

ZIMBABWE

Innocent Kaia b Mukesh 4 (3b, 1×4), Wessly Madhevere b Bishnoi 43 (39b, 3×4, 1×6), Brian Bennett b Mukesh 26 (9b, 1×4, 3×6), Dion Myers c Rinku b Avesh 0 (1b), Sikandar Raza c Jurel b Avesh 4 (4b, 1×4), Johnathan Campbell c Bishnoi b Washington 10 (18b), Clive Madande lbw b Bishnoi 0 (4b), Wellington Masakadza run out 1 (3b), Luke Jongwe c Ruturaj b Mukesh 33 (26b, 4×4), Blessing Muzarabani c Washington b Avesh 2 (4b), Tendai Chatara (not out) 0 (2b); Extras (lb-2, w-8, nb-1): 11; Total (in 18.4 overs): 134.

FALL OF WICKETS

1-4 (Kaia, 0.3), 2-40 (Bennett, 2.6), 3-41 (Myers, 3.2), 4-46 (Raza, 3.6), 5-72 (Campbell, 9.4), 6-73 (Madande, 10.3), 7-76 (Masakadza, 11.1), 8-117 (Madhevere, 16.3), 9-123 (Muzarabani, 17.4).

INDIA BOWLING

Mukesh 3.4-0-37-3, Abhishek 3-0-36-0, Avesh 3-0-15-3, Bishnoi 4-0-11-2, Washington 4-0-28-1, Parag 1-0-5-0.

Toss: India. PoM: Abhishek.

India won by 100 runs to level the five-match series 1-1.

Zimbabwe players celebrate a wicket during the first T20 international match against India in Harare on July 6, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Having hurt the Shubman Gill-led India hard in the opening T20I in Harare, Zimbabwe spinner Wellington Masakadza said the tourists should take the home side lightly at their own risk, and added that they will exploit the home conditions to the maximum to win the five-match series.

A new-look India team suffered a 13-run loss to an inexperienced yet spirited Zimbabwe side in an upset of massive proportion.

India, who were recently crowned champions in the T20 World Cup albeit with a different set of players, were expected to blow away the Zimbabwean challenge when they restricted the home side to 115 for nine.

But Zimbabwe wrote their own script, reducing India to 28 for four in the Powerplay and then eventually bowling them out for 102 in 19.5 overs.

It was India’s first loss in T20Is in 2024 and first against Zimbabwe in eight years.

Masakadza, who finished with figures of 1/15 in three overs, said: “We are trying to use our own conditions as much as we can against this Indian side. It’s a second-string Indian side, but there are a lot of good players in there. So, we are looking forward to this series,” Masakadza said in an interview with PTI Videos facilitated by broadcasters Sony Sports Network.

“We’ve had a few plans in place. We needed them to work and obviously, we are trying to use our own conditions as much as we can against this Indian side.” Masakadza, who dismissed tail-ender Avesh Khan on Saturday, said he was eyeing captain Shubman Gill’s wicket now.

“I’ll be looking to take Shubman Gill’s big wicket and some of the right-handers, (Riyan) Parag and some of the other guys in the side.

“It will be a very good challenge. They’re (Ravi Bishnoi and Washington Sundar) very good spinners. Bishnoi has just had a very good tournament in the IPL and also Sundar. So it’s always a very good challenge to have Asian spinners.” With Harare enjoying a winter season as it is in the Southern Hemisphere, the left-arm spinner said the home team pacers, due to their familiarity with the pitch, will likely trouble the Indian batters.

“It’s winter here and at times it’s a bit difficult for batters as the pitch is slowish, with a bit of turn. The seam is always a very big challenge in Harare during winter. So, I think the ball will move a bit and it will spin also,” said Masakadza, a veteran of 90 T20Is.

He added that a series win will be a shot in the arm for Zimbabwe cricket, which has been on the decline for several years.

“This series will mean a lot to us. If we manage to win the series, it will be a very big thing in our future.” “We’re starting a new chapter, we have had our ups and downs in the past. We’ve just had a new coaching staff. So I just think from now on, this is a big thing for us and we’ll be looking forward to making a few plans to get ourselves across the line,” said the 30-year-old, who, like his skipper Sikandar Raza, wants to play in the IPL.

Pakistan-born Raza played for Punjab Kings this IPL season, scoring 43 runs in two games. On Saturday, he was adjudged ‘Player of the Match’ for taking three wickets and scoring 17 runs.

“Definitely, it’s always a good thing to go out there and play in those leagues. I will look to take some wickets in this series. That can be good for me to get a gig (IPl contract).”

A new-look Indian T20 team would embark on a journey of self-discovery without their constant talismans, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, hoping to unearth their mainstays for the future in a five-match series against Zimbabwe starting in Harare on July 6.

Even as the euphoria of T20 World Cup triumph sweeps through the length and breadth of India, Shubman Gill, who was a reserve in that squad, will hit a refresh button along with a bunch of IPL performers.

All the fresh faces are expected to make their international debut during the series scheduled to be played entirely in the Zimbabwean capital.

Two young men, who are lined for debut could be Punjab’s Abhishek Sharma, who had a stupendous IPL for Sunrisers Hyderabad and the young Assamese lad Riyan Parag, who has given ample demonstration of his capabilities as a competent T20 batter. Both of them tick all the boxes for this format.

While over the past few years, Rohit and Kohli have skipped a lot of bilateral series, especially in the shortest format, their international retirement from the format is bound to be felt more strongly.

The skills and quality that the two modern greats brought to the table will be hard to replicate but as it is the order of nature, the old guard has to make way for the new one.

Zimbabwe certainly isn’t the most formidable opposition but in T20 format, the gulf between sides is comparatively lesser than the other two traditional forms of the game.

The hosts, led by the gutsy Sikandar Raza, who played for Punjab Kings in the IPL recently, could prove to be a handful on nippy afternoons at the Harare Sports Club where the ball will jag around during the afternoon starts.

Some solid performances in this series will keep these youngsters in contention for future when the first team players of the world champion side are back on national duty.

Shivam Dube, Sanju Samson, and Yashasvi Jaiswal will be available from the third match onwards and some of the young men would only get a couple of games to prove their mettle.

In future, the likes of T20 captain-in-waiting Hardik Pandya, his likely deputy Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, and Kuldeep Yadav will also be back playing the format and there won’t be too many vacancies in the playing eleven. From now till the 2026 T20 World Cup in India, the national team will play 34 games in the shortest format.

While skipper Gill is expected to open, one needs to see whether his best friend Abhishek gets his maiden India cap or the seasoned CSK skipper and captain of the Asian Games gold medal-winning team Ruturaj Gaikwad ends up being the chosen one.

In case Abhishek opens, Gaikwad could come in at No.3 or swap positions with the Punjab southpaw. Parag’s chances of a debut are brighter compared to Abhishek as he can bat at No. 4 in the first match, a slot he made his own for the Royals.

Rinku Singh, the designated finisher of the Indian T20 team for years to come, is expected to arrive at No. 5 in this new look line-up while one among Jitesh Sharma or Dhruv Jurel will bat at No. 6 while donning the big gloves.

If one looks at selection pattern, Jurel was the second keeper behind Sanju Samson for this series and Jitesh was a late entrant because of the unavailability of the World Cup squad members.

Hence Jurel, who made an impressive Test debut against England is likely play in the first two games before Samson arrives.

In the bowling department, Avesh Khan and Khaleel Ahmed, the two standbys during the T20 World Cup are certainties and Mukesh Kumar, who is a very steady death bowler could be the third seamer pipping Harshit Rana, who is a better slogger with the willow.

Washington Sundar with his all-round abilities will hold his place till Dube arrives while leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi is expected to play all games.

Squads

India (first 2 games): Shubman Gill (c), 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.

Zimbabwe: Sikandar Raza (captain), Faraz Akram, Brian Bennett, Johnathan Campbell, Tendai Chatara, Luke Jongwe, Innocent Kaia, Clive Madande, Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Brandon Mavuta, Blessing Muzarabani, Dion Myers, Antum Naqvi, Richard Ngarava, Milton Shumba.

Match Starts at 4:30 pm IST.