Harshit Rana ready to wear Team India jersey, BCCI gave this bowler a chance in place of Shivam Dubey

For the first two T20 matches of the Zimbabwe trip, left-handed batsman Sai Sudarshan, wicketkeeper-batsman Jitesh Sharma, and fast bowler Harshit Rana will replace Sanju Samson, Shivam Dubey, and Yashasvi Jaiswal in the Indian squad. The five-match series will take place at Harare Sports Club from July 6 to July 14. The Indian team, together with interim coach VVS Laxman, departed for Zimbabwe late on Monday night.

The BCCI statement read, “The men’s selection committee has named Sai Sudarshan, Jitesh Sharma, and Harshit Rana in the squad for the first two T20Is against Zimbabwe, replacing Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, and Yashasvi Jaiswal. Samson, Dube, and Jaiswal who were scheduled to join the Zimbabwe-bound squad are currently with the ICC T20 World Cup-winning squad, which is stranded in Barbados due to Hurricane Beryl.

The BCCI also said that the three players will travel to India first with the rest of the T20 World Cup squad before heading to Harare. It read, “Originally scheduled to join the Zimbabwe-bound squad for the upcoming five-match T20 series starting on Saturday, 6 July, the three players will travel to India first with the rest of the ICC T20 World Cup-winning Indian squad before departing for Harare.”

Indian team for the first 2 matches against Zimbabwe: Shubman Gill (captain), Rituraj Gaikwad, Abhishek Sharma, Rinku Singh, Dhruv Jurel (wicketkeeper), Riyan Parag, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Khalil Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, Tushar Deshpande, Sai Sudarshan, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper) and Harshit Rana.