Harare: Shreyas Iyer would be eager for his first win as India captain while his young team eyes course correction against a spunky Zimbabwe that is expected to fight hard during the short three-match T20I series starting here on Thursday.
Having lost six out of his first seven T20I games as skipper in series defeats to minnows Ireland and a seasoned England side, the rubber against Zimbabwe gives Iyer and company a chance to get the house in order.
A series win against Zimbabwe would be the expected outcome but a defeat could unnerve the dressing room that also features a 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
For this tour, India will have a stop-gap head coach in VVS Laxman, whose personality is diametrically opposite to the combative regular gaffer Gautam Gambhir.
It is not that Laxman wouldn’t want to win the series but his propensity to experiment with playing eleven is far less compared to Gambhir.
The spotlight will once again chase ‘Boy Wonder’ Sooryavanshi, who is set to open in all three games alongside Abhishek Sharma as Sanju Samson hasn’t even been selected.
The Harare Sports Club ground brings back fond memories for both Abhishek and Sooryavanshi. The Punjab opener made his debut and then scored his first T20I ton here in his second appearance.
For Sooryavanshi, this is the ground where earlier this year, on February 6, he hammered a hapless England U-19s with a big hundred in the junior World Cup final.
But this series will have a different context. It was supposed to be an opportunity to experiment for a new-look bowling attack, but has turned into a must-win affair due to recent debacles.
The afternoon games at the Harare Sports Club’s tracks, which always have a bit of juice and carry, can pose problems for most of the Indian batters save skipper Iyer as they don’t tend to use their feet.
Blessing Muzarabani and Richard Ngarava, two tall and potent fast bowlers have the ability to cause chaos if Indians become over-confident.
Laxman’s strategy, therefore, would be interesting to watch.
With vice-captain Tilak Varma not looking comfortable at No. 5, how would the stand-in head coach manoeuvre with that position? Tilak, in T20Is, is best suited at No. 3 but Ishan Kishan, a senior member in this set-up, has been given that role.
At No. 5, Rinku Singh is a better bet with his street smart style of batting but it will not be easy to drop a designated vice captain.
India’s real struggle will be selecting two among Harsh Dubey, Shivam Dube and Suryansh Shedge. None of the three are pure all-rounders. As a safe bet, they might be compelled to pick all three.
In case of Dube, he has struggled as a batter in conditions that aid seam and swing bowling. However, he has the experience having been part of two T20 World Cup triumphs (albeit in favourable conditions in the Caribbean and India).
Between Shedge and Harsh, there is not much to choose as the former’s bowling isn’t up to the mark and the latter’s batting doesn’t have that kind of flamboyance that one would expect at No. 8.
While Gambhir has had a fascination for all-rounders, Laxman’s preferences are different.
He can’t afford to have a long tail as neither among the rookie pace quartet of Mayank Yadav, Ashok Sharma, Prince Yadav and Yash Thakur can bat.
Prince, who has been playing a few games for India, will certainly start with injury-prone Mayank Yadav, who had turned up in a few T20Is against Bangladesh back in 2024.
The choice for the third pacer will be between tearaway quick Ashok, who can bowl mid 150s or the steady Yash, who bowls late 130s but has variety.
