India in Zimbabwe: Search for ‘Next-Gems’ on

Harare, July 5

A new-look Indian T20 team would embark on a journey of self-discovery without their talismans — Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli — hoping to unearth their successors in a five-match series against Zimbabwe starting here tomorrow.

6 India have faced Zimbabwe in only eight T20Is over the course of 14 years, winning six and losing two

5 First-innings totals in recent past in Harare have been a bit middling, with only five of the last 12, going past 150

If you look at the team, it’s a quite different team from the one that played in the World Cup. There are a lot of young players in the team, including myself. We just want to give the players experience and what it is like to play at the international level. Shubman Gill, India captain

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

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

Two young men are lined up for debut — Punjab’s Abhishek Sharma and Assam’s Riyan Parag. Both had given ample demonstration of their capabilities as a T20 batter.

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 is the order of nature, the old has to make way for the new one. 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.

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.

Next-Gen hails triumph

India’s emotional and epochal triumph in the just-concluded T20 World Cup found its resonance in Next-Gen stars such as Gill and Parag who termed it as an “inspiration” while vowing to bring more glory to the nation in future.

Gill, who is leading the contingent here, was a travelling reserve with Rohit Sharma’s men before returning to India after the group stage of the T20 WC which was held in the USA. The 24-year-old rated the victory as a “feather in the cap”. “This must have been very special for all of them, and special for me. They have been working very hard for this. So, it’s a feather in the cap,” Gill said.

Abhishek, who had a stellar run for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2024, had a special companion while watching the final – multiple World Cup winner Yuvraj Singh.

“I was watching the match (T20 WC final) with the one and only Yuvi paji. He got very emotional when India won the final. Watching that, I felt very good and got very inspired. It’s a dream for all of us to win an ICC trophy, and he has won it for India many times,” Sharma said.

Parag, who is set to make his T20I debut, termed the victory an inspiration. “It’s an inspiration for all of us, the young players here in this squad to win a World Cup, to win something this big in stature. I think it’s motivating for all of us.”