The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the Indian men’s squad for the upcoming ODI series against Zimbabwe, starting August 18 in Harare. All-rounder Washington Sundar and speedster Deepak Chahar have returned to the ODI setup.
Notably, both Sundar and Deepak last played an ODI during the home series against West Indies earlier this year. Chahar had picked up a hamstring injury and has since been undergoing rehab at the NCA in Bengaluru.
Similarly, Sundar suffered an injury to his bowling hand during IPL 2022 and therefore couldn’t play the games against South Africa, Ireland and England. However, he made his comeback in competitive cricket after signing up with Lancashire for the County season.
The squad doesn’t feature big stars like regular captain Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja, most probably due to Asia Cup, which starts five days after the Zimbabwe tour. As a result, senior opener Shikhar Dhawan will once again step up to lead the Men in Blue.
Another notable selection in the 15-member outfit is top-order batter Rahul Tripathi, who has received his first ever call-up to the ODI squad. The right-handed batter had recently got his maiden India call-up for India’s tour of Ireland but didn’t get a game and is still uncapped across formats.
India Squad for Zimbabwe ODIs:
Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Ishan Kishan (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Deepak Chahar.