🏏Series: India tour of Zimbabwe, 2024, Zimbabwe VS India, 3rd T20I🏏 - Page 2

Team news

Zimbabwe captain Raza is averse to chopping and changing as a reaction to Sunday's defeat, but he said after the game that the left-arm seamer Richard Ngarava would come in if he cleared a fitness test. "If he's fit to go, he's straight back in."

The returns of Jaiswal, Samson and Dube complicate India's selection. Jaiswal is set to come in for B Sai Sudharsan, who made his debut in the second T20I but didn't get to face a ball, but will he open or bat in the middle order? And who will Dube displace? Samson's case is simpler; he will likely replace his Rajasthan Royals team-mate Dhruv Jurel. Whatever combination India go with, they could find themselves with at least two top-order players batting lower than their preferred slots.

On the eve of the match, India batter Ruturaj Gaikwad summed up the conditions at Harare Sports Club succinctly in his pre-match press conference.

"Yes, definitely the conditions are challenging," he said. "It is a bit unique. When there is some seam movement, you can still negotiate it if it is coming at one pace. But I feel it is a little double-paced here, there is a little variable bounce. So, there is a bit of difference because of that. [As long as] the ball is new, it is slightly tougher to score runs, but once the ball is old, fast boundaries, relatively small boundaries straight, you can still convert your runs after that."

The forecast for Wednesday promises a clear, sunny day with maximum temperatures in the mid-20s Celsius.

After an embarrassing defeat in the first T20I of the series, India (IND) stunned Zimbabwe (ZIM) in the second one, beating them by 100 runs. Young opener Abhishek Sharma stole the show with his quick century while Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rinku Singh reigned supreme as well. Gaikwad made 77* runs while Rinku made 48* runs and courtesy of their knocks, India posted 234 runs in the second T20I.

They would hope to continue with the same momentum in the third T20I. Yashasvi Jaiswal might have to wait to break into the squad but Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube are expected to replace Dhruv Jurel and Sai Sudharsan respectively. Among bowlers, Mukesh Kumar and Avesh Khan were sensational and overall, India would be happy with their position at the moment.

When it comes to Zimbabwe, they have a lot of room for improvement. A lot of their success depends on skipper Sikandar Raza and that needs to change. The bowling unit looks sorted despite leaking plenty of runs in the last match. They have the quality to bounce back and would hope to do the same as the first T20I.

They've 4 openers now

Wanna see how they're going to manage this

Abhishek Sharma was phenomenal in the second T20I. Despite being under pressure, the 23-year-old played an aggressive brand of cricket, scoring 100 runs off 47 balls. He would hope to continue with the same form to cement his place in India’s senior men's squad that’s scheduled to travel to Sri Lanka later in the month.

After a terrific IPL, Avesh Khan was named as one of the reserves for India during the T20 World Cup. After that, he joined India in the series against Zimbabwe and impressed everyone with four wickets in two matches.

Scenario 1

Zimbabwe win the toss and opt to bowl first

PP Score: 50-60

India: 195-215

India win the match

Scenario 2

India win the toss and opt to bowl first

PP score: 35-45

Zimbabwe: 135-155

India win the match

Jaiswal

Gill

Abhishek

First 3 player plus both Sanju & Dube will play today

& sat/Sun

I feel sorry for

Sudarshan.

Shubman Gill's side will be more emboldened with the addition of World Cup winning trio of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson and Sanju Samson. However, with new players coming into the side, it could be the end of series of some youngsters like Sai Sudarshan, Dhruv Jurel and Riyan Parag. Moreover, there could also be a change in the batting lineup, with Yashasvi Jaiswal set to take the opening berth.

Zimbabwe, on the other hand, would look like to make a strong comeback after facing a 100 run defeat in the last encounter. In particular, this young Minnows lineup would need to improve their batting performance if they want to stand any chance of defeating the World Champions.

Yuvraj singh on Abhishek Sharma's ton; ‘many more to come’

India vs Zimbabwe Live Score: Yuvi has played a major role in Abhishek’s young career and always backed him even during his hard times. Soon after Abhishek was awarded the Player of the Match for his blistering hundred, he made a video call to his mentor.

"Very proud! Well done, very proud. You deserve it. Many more to come. This is just the start," India’s iconic batting all-rounder wrote on X