Zim vs Ind, 2nd T20I – Unchanged Zimbabwe field; Yash Thakur debuts for India

Toss Zimbabwe chose to bowl vs India

Sikandar Raza won the toss and elected to bowl at the Harare Sports Club in a bid to keep the three-match T20I series alive. Raza felt the surface wouldn’t be as “spicy” as the one on which they managed just 125 for 7 batting first in the series opener, before losing by seven wickets.

Shreyas Iyer, who lost his first toss since taking over as India’s T20I captain last month, announced one change: Vidarbha’s Yash Thakur was handed his India cap, replacing Ashok Sharma, who made his debut in the previous game. Ashok finished with figures of 0 for 29 off four overs.

Thakur, like Ashok, has been part of the BCCI’s targeted pool of fast bowlers for a while and has worked extensively under the VVS Laxman-led support staff at the Centre of Excellence.

While he featured in just one IPL fixture for Punjab Kings this season, he was Vidarbha’s highest wicket-taker during their run to a maiden Vijay Hazare Trophy (50-overs) title, picking up 19 wickets in nine games at an economy of 6.43.

With five T20I caps, Prince Yadav remained the most experienced India seamer in the XI. Ravi Bishnoi continued to be the lone spinner, leaving Harsh Dubey waiting for an opportunity to debut in the shortest format. The make-up of their squad also leaves them with just four specialist bowlers, with Shivam Dube and Abhishek Sharma needing to fill in as the fifth bowler.

Following T20I series losses in Ireland and England, defending T20 World Cup champions India are seeking to win the series.

Zimbabwe: 1 Brian Bennett, 2 Ben Curran, 3 Dion Myers, 4 Sikandar Raza (capt), 5 Ryan Burl, 6 Wessly Madhevere, 7 Tadiwanashe Marumani (wk), 8 Brad Evans, 9 Newman Nyamhuri, 10 Richard Ngarava, 11 Blessing Muzarabani

India: 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, 3 Ishan Kishan (wk), 4 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Rinku Singh, 8 Yash Thakur, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Mayank Yadav, 11 Prince Yadav

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