India Vs Zimbabwe, 1st T20I: Three Key Player Battles To Watch Out For

A young Indian cricket team will kickstart their campaign of a five-match T20I bilateral series against Zimbabwe with the first match on Saturday at Harare Sports Club. All the matches of the series will be played at the same venue. (More Cricket News)

The Shubman Gill-led Indian side has VVS Laxman as their coach. The first match may see a lot of debutants in the shortest format as three players who were part of the T20 World Cup winning squad were not able to join the team on time due to hurricane Beryl in Barbados.

Sai Sudharsan, Harshit Rana and Jitesh Sharma joined the squad as replacements for Shivam Dube, Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal for the first two matches. They are celebrating the World Cup victory with the senior team in India.

Abhishek Sharma and Riyan Parag, who had a brilliant IPL season, may debut for the national side on Saturday. Jitesh Sharma is likely to do the wicket-keeping otherwise Dhruv Jurel will also make his T20I debut.

India vs Zimbabwe, 1st T20I Squads:

India: Shubman Gill(c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel(w), Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Ravi Bishnoi, Sai Sudharsan, Jitesh Sharma, Tushar Deshpande, Harshit Rana

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

As the stage is set for the opening match of the T20I bilateral series, three key player battles are worth looking out for:

1. Shubman Gill vs Blessing Muzarabani

Shubman Gill likes to give a good start with sensible batting. He plays his shots with full freedom but also takes time without any hurry. He may become lethal for the African nation once he gets the chance to settle. Blessing Muzarabani has been one of the best seamers in Zimbabwe in the last decade and may surprise the Indian captain with his pace and accuracy.

2. Sikandar Raza vs Abhishek Sharma

Sikandar Raza is the captain of Zimbabwe and a brilliant all-rounder. He can single-handedly turn the game around with either bat or ball. On Saturday, he could be a significant threat to the Indian bowling lineup. However, debutant Abhishek Sharma may be able to outfox him with his spin bowling. The intriguing aspect of this battle is that they can each take turns to outplay the other. Raza might also dismiss Sharma while bowling or Sharma could showcase his batting skills against Raza's bowling.

3. Rinku Singh vs Richard Ngarava

Rinku Singh's explosive batting is well-known and he likes to play aerial shots while coming to bat in the death overs. Richard Ngarava's pace bowling may pose a threat to his style of batting but he is most likely to win in this player battle on Saturday.