India’s Twenty20 International team has selected Shubman Gill as their skipper for the five-match series against Zimbabwe starting on July 6. Following their outstanding performances in the IPL 2024, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Riyan Parag, and Tushar Deshpande were all called up for the first time for India.
In addition, Dhruv Jurel, who made his Test debut against England earlier this year, was called up for the first time to the Twenty20 international team and selected as the second wicketkeeper.
The only other members of India’s T20 World Cup team who are also going to Zimbabwe are Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson; the other players have been granted a break after the competition concludes on June 29.
Tilak Varma, who has participated in 16 T20 international matches since making his debut in August of last year, is not in the team. Before the Mumbai Indians’ last IPL 2024 season game, ESPNcricinfo discovered that Tilak had suffered two finger injuries. He is now receiving treatment at NCA in Bangalore. He participated in the most recent bilateral series between India and Afghanistan in January. He also had a great IPL season for Mumbai, scoring 416 runs at a 149.64 strike rate.
Abhishek call-up follows Sunrisers Hyderabad’s impressive IPL 2024 campaign, which saw them score 484 runs at a strike rate of 204.21 and smash 42 sixes, the highest of the season. In November, he had also been instrumental in leading Punjab win their first-ever Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy, scoring 485 runs as an opener with a strike rate of 192.46.
“Getting this opportunity feels great,” Abhishek stated in a statement. “My efforts have finally paid off. I’ll do my absolute best and represent India well.”
Parag, who is participating in his sixth IPL season, had a breakthrough year for the Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2024, surpassing his run total from the previous five seasons. When given the opportunity to bat at No. 4, Parag scored 40 or more in seven of the fourteen innings; this season, only Virat Kohli has amassed nine such runs. Parag finished third on the list of all-time scorers with 573 runs in 16 innings, behind only Gaikwad (583) and Kohli (741).
With 17 wickets and an economy rate of 8.83, Deshpande led the Chennai Super Kings in wicket-taking in the 2024 Indian Premier League.
Kenya hosts Zimbabwe for five Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) on July 6, 7, 10, 13, and 14.
India’s squad for T20I series in Zimbabwe
Ꮪhubman 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.
