File image of Shivam Dube.© X (Twitter)

Shubman Gill can wrap up his first series win as India captain today as the team take on Zimbabwe in the fourth T20I of the five-match series. India head into the contest with a 2-1 lead. After a shock defeat in the first game, India bounced back in tremendous style with a 100-run win. The third T20I was a closer affair, with a valiant Zimbabwe falling just 23 runs short. Ahead of a decisive fourth T20I, let’s take a look at India’s possible XI for the game.

1. Shubman Gill (c) – The captain stays, having been India’s top run-scorer in two of the three T20Is, including a solid 66 in the previous T20I.

2. Yashasvi Jaiswal – Having returned from the third T20I, Jaiswal contributed 36 off 27 balls and will surely keep his place in the side.

3. Abhishek Sharma – The swashbuckling southpaw may have been demoted to no. 3, but there is no case for him to be dropped for the rest of the series after his exceptional century in the second T20I.

4. Ruturaj Gaikwad – The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain has quietly adapted well to middle-order duties, and narrowly missed out on a second successive half-century in the third T20I. Gaikwad is India’s leading run-scorer in the series so far.

5. Sanju Samson (wk) – Another player who joined after India’s T20 World Cup 2024 celebrations, Samson should keep his place in the XI as the wicket-keeper batsman.

6. Rinku Singh – Rinku Singh showed his finishing power in the second T20I with a 22-ball 48, and will keep his place in the side.

7. Shivam Dube – Despite playing every game for India in the T20 World Cup, Dube is expected to continue in the XI against Zimbabwe, being one of the more senior players in the squad.

8. Washington Sundar – Washington is making a great case for a regular India spot in the post-Ravindra Jadeja era in T20Is, having impressed with both bat and ball so far in the series. He finished with figures of 3/15 and won the ‘Player of the Match’ in the third T20I.

9. Ravi Bishnoi – The leg-spinner was the world’s no. 1 T20I bowler not too long ago, and will surely play every match in the series.

10. Tushar Deshpande – With Avesh Khan going for runs in the third T20I, a debut could be on the horizon for CSK star Tushar Deshpande.

11. Khaleel Ahmed – The left-arm seamer has been brilliant up front, and showed his class once again in the third T20I, giving away just 15 runs in his four-over spell.

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.

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 Wednesday. 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.

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.

Chirag Shetty has lashed out at the government for not treating all sports equally.© AFP

India’s 13-run defeat to 12th-ranked Zimbabwe came after the young Indian batting lineup collapsed and were bowled out for just 102 runs. Captain Shubman Gill and Washington Sundar were the only two batters to score more than 20 runs, as the entire middle order failed to fire. From debutants Abhishek Sharma and Riyan Parag to first team hopefuls Rinku Singh and Ruturaj Gaikwad, it was a day to forget for Team India. Parag and Rinku, in particular, faced a lot of backlash from unhappy fans on social media.

Riyan Parag – who became the first player of Assam and north-eastern India to play for Team India – did not have the best debut, making just 2 runs in 3 balls. Rinku made even less, getting out for a two-ball duck.

Recently, Riyan Parag had made a statement that he does not like to watch the T20 World Cup as he’d rather play in it. Fans attacked the statement as Parag faltered in his first India innings.

On the other hand, Rinku had narrowly missed out on India’s 15-member T20 World Cup 2024 squad, as India favoured Shivam Dube and extra spinners. Hoping to impress in the Zimbabwe tour, Rinku, who has had a short but successful T20 career so far, failed to fire and take India to victory.

India have picked a host of debutants and youngsters in their squad for the five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe. With most of the T20 World Cup squad rested, the side is being led by Shubman Gill, who is making his captaincy debut for India.

Earlier, India had restricted Zimbabwe to just 115, courtesy of Ravi Bishnoi‘s 4/13. However, Zimbabwe, who had failed to qualify for the 20-team T20 World Cup altogether, put up an inspired bowling performance to bundle India out for just 102 in Harare.

Our very own once the academy topper from IPL batch, Riyan Parag started his international on high notes pic.twitter.com/CTMGS4TicJ

— TukTuk Academy (@TukTuk_Academy) July 6, 2024

Riyan Parag is officially a meme material #INDvsZIM pic.twitter.com/JOydP7EsPl

— Ctrl C Ctrl Memes (@Ctrlmemes_) July 6, 2024

“Play Rinku Singh in WC”

“Get Shivam Dube a niggle”

Rinku shut down all critics with his batting show today pic.twitter.com/UBpuq3K5H2

— Dinda Academy (@academy_dinda) July 6, 2024

Common knowledge

Shivam Dube >>> Rinku Singh pic.twitter.com/640f6Qg4h4

— (@Shivayaaah) July 6, 2024

Team India’s youngsters would look to turnaround their fortunes as the two teams square off in the second match of the series on Sunday.

As India’s five-match T20I tour to Zimbabwe gets underway on Saturday, July 6, three stalwarts – Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shivam Dube – are not playing in the first T20I despite being part of the squad. The reason for their absence is that the trio were part of India’s 2024 T20 World Cup-winning squad, which caught stuck in Barbados till Wednesday due to Hurricane Beryl, and then spent the entire Thursday celebrating in Delhi and Mumbai. The trio have departed for Zimbabwe capital Harare in the early hours of Saturday morning, and are expected to feature from the third T20I.

The first two T20Is of the tour to Zimbabwe take place on back-to-back days, on July 6 and 7, meaning that Samson, Jaiswal and Dube won’t get enough time to prepare before the second T20I, instead expecting to play from the third T20I on July 10.

The T20I series is crucial for Samson and Jaiswal, who did not play a single game in the T20 World Cup. On the other hand, Dube was included in the squad for the Zimbabwe tour despite playing every game of the T20 World Cup, as a replacement for the injured Nitish Reddy.

Samson enjoyed the best IPL season of his career in 2024, scoring 531 runs, but had to play second-fiddle to Rishabh Pant for the wicket-keeper spot in Team India. Jaiswal also had to accept a back-up role to Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, despite piling up more than 1,000 runs in the two most recent IPL seasons.

With Kohli, Rohit and Jadeja retired from T20Is, impressing across five games in the Zimbabwe tour could pave the pathway to a regular Team India spot for some of the youngsters.

Shubman Gill, who narrowly missed out on India’s T20 World Cup squad, is leading Team India in Zimbabwe. Samson’s Rajasthan Royals teammates Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel made their T20I debut in the first Zimbabwe game, as did Abhishek Sharma.

The BCCI cannot prioritise one city over another when it comes to organising important finals, said board’s vice-president on Friday in response to Shiv Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray’s demand. Following a massive turnout during Indian cricket team’s T20 World Cup victory parade on Marine Drive to the Wankhede Stadium, Thackeray had urged BCCI to not “take away” any final match from Mumbai. “Yesterday’s celebration in Mumbai is also a strong message to the BCCI… Never take away a World Cup final from Mumbai!,” Thackeray had written on X.

“It is BCCI’s policy that where the final should take place. It cannot always be given to a particular city,” Shukla told PTI on Friday.

The Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai hosted the 2023 ODI World Cup semifinal whereas the world’s largest stadium in terms of sitting capacity, in Ahmedabad, was the venue for the final.

“There has been a final match — 1987 World Cup — in Kolkata also, and Kolkata is considered as Mecca. So it can’t be decided that it should always happen in a particular city,” Shukla said.

“There are semi-finals and finals which have taken place in Mumbai. Similarly, Ahmedabad ground has got a capacity of 1,30,000, and we go by capacity also,” he continued.

“Kolkata (Eden Gardens) has got a big capacity, around 80,000 spectators (approx. 66,000) can be accommodated. Similarly, other cities also.

“This is purely a decision keeping in mind the entire country and all the venues. You cannot confine to one venue,” explained the senior board official.

Shukla said it will not be correct to remain confined to a specific venue for hosting key matches.

He also praised fans in Mumbai for turning up in large numbers for the open bus parade and hailed the Mumbai Police for smoothly managing the show.

“We were really delighted to see Mumbaikars and their response. Mumbai is always our priority. It’s not that (it is not). But it has to be decided by the entire BCCI, where to host finals, where to have semi-finals… Every match is important,” he said.

“Mumbai is always on our priority list. But saying that all the finals should take place in one city… It never happens in any country,” Shukla added.

Team India celebrate their T20 World Cup 2024 win.© AFP

Winning team members of the T20 World Cup Champion India, captain Rohit Sharma, batters Suryakumar Yadav, Shivam Dube, Yashasvi Jaiswal and the bowling coach met Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in Mumbai on Friday. The Chief Minister facilitated victorious members of the Indian team with shawls and idols of Lord Ganesha, congratulating the Indian players for the victory. Following their meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi, the players departed for Mumbai on Thursday. In Mumbai, the Men in Blue had an open bus victory parade from Marine Drive to the iconic Wankhede Stadium.

The parade was an affair to remember and marvel at, as thousands of fans gathered at Marine Drive and surrounded the bus before it could even get Indian players on it.

After their arrival at the Wankhede Stadium, the Indian cricket players danced to the tunes of dhol at the event, which is being held here after their victory parade.

The team went to Wankhede amid cheers, chants, and claps from passionate fans. At the Wankhede, they were felicitated with the prize money of Rs 125 crore by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) office-bearers.

Throughout the parade, players were seen lifting the coveted trophy high in the air and appreciating the support of their fans. The love of the fans was clearly visible when some of them climbed on the tree and cheered for the team as the bus went past them.

Players also talked about their win, and the performances of key players in the T20 World Cup inside a jam-packed Wankhede and danced their hearts out. The event also featured the players taking a victory lap to the tune of the country’s national song, ‘Vande Mataram’.

Earlier on Thursday, after landing in New Delhi, Team India went to meet the Prime Minister. PM Modi held a breakfast for the ICC T20 World Cup-winning Indian cricket team. During their meeting with the Prime Minister, the Men in Blue wore a special jersey sporting two stars over the BCCI’s emblem. The stars represented the two T20 World Cup wins. The word ‘CHAMPIONS’ was written on the jersey in bold letters.

Team management, BCCI President Roger Binny, and Secretary Jay Shah were also present. After the meeting with the Prime Minister, the T20 World Cup Player of the Tournament award winner, Bumrah, stated that it was an honour to be invited to PM Modi’s residence for breakfast and thanked him for the hospitality that he showed.