The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the India men’s cricket team’s squad for the upcoming 3-match T20I series against Zimbabwe away from home. Seven players – Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, and Prasidh Krishna – who were part of the ongoing Ireland and England tours are out of the team.
Sanju Samson dropped
Samson’s omission is the biggest surprise. The wicketkeeper-batter was the ‘player of the tournament’ in the T20 World Cup 2026, but after 3 low scores against Ireland and England, he was dropped for Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Now, Samson moves out of the side entirely. Prabhsimran Singh replaces him in the squad as the second keeper in what feels like an extremely harsh decision on the 31-year-old. Samson remains in the Asian Games 2026 squad, but one can’t be certain about his future now.
Mayank Yadav returns
All-rounders Washington Sundar and Axar Patel have been rested, with Harsh Dubey and Rinku Singh coming in for them. Not exactly like-for-like replacements, but one can understand that the selectors want to test more players. Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh are rested, with Mayank Yadav returning to the team and Yash Thakur earning his maiden India call-up after a good India A tour of Sri Lanka.
Speedster Ashok Sharma gets call-up
Alongside Samson, Prasidh and Bishnoi have been dropped after underwhelming performances on their T20I returns. Ashok Sharma comes into the team for Prasidh, but an extra spinner hasn’t been added for the leg-spinner. Alongside Mayank, Ashok will be another pacer who can bowl 150 km and above.
India squad for Zimbabwe T20I series
Shreyas Iyer (c), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma (vc), Ishan Kishan (wk), Shivam Dube, Suryansh Shedge, Rinku Singh, Harsh Dubey, Varun Chakaravarathy, Prince Yadav, Yash Thakur, Ashok Sharma, Mayank Yadav, Prabhsimran Singh (wk)
India didn’t test much against Ireland, which was a surprise to many, but now the BCCI has decided to bring in several new players into the mix. One has to remember that Test and ODI cricket will have the front seat since the next T20 World Cup is in 2028. Therefore, BCCI will prioritise players, especially bowlers, for the longer formats.
India vs Zimbabwe T20I series schedule
| Match No. | Day | Date | Match | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thursday | July 23 | 1st T20I | Harare |
| 2 | Saturday | July 25 | 2nd T20I | Harare |
| 3 | Sunday | July 26 | 3rd T20I | Harare |
