From a 0-1 deficit to a 2-1 lead, Shubman Gill’s young Indian team has shown why facing a second-string Men in Blue isn’t an easy task. After a hiccup on July 7, where they failed to chase a sub-par 116 total, it’s been complete dominance from Team India. But they still haven’t won the 5-match India vs Zimbabwe series. To do that, they’ll need to beat Sikandar Raza’s Chevron in the 4th T20I at the Harare Sports Club.
Tushar Deshpande to make debut
With complete control of the series, we can expect Shubman Gill to make changes to the Playing XI. In the last game, we saw Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, and Yashasvi Jaiswal return but Mukesh Kumar was also rested, and Khaleel Ahmed was brought in. In the 4th T20I, we might see the Indian management rest Avesh Khan, who’s played all three games, and bring in debutant Tushar Deshpande.
Despande has a note-worthy T20 record. The right-arm pacer who plays for Mumbai in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, was the highest wicket-taker for both teams in the respective tournament. Although, he’s known to go for runs, his striking ability makes him one of the most sought after bowlers.
Tushar Deshpande IPL & SMAT stats
Tournament | Inn | Wkts | Avg | Econ | SR | 4W & 5W |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
IPL 2024 | 13 | 17 | 24.94 | 8.83 | 16.94 | 1 & 0 |
Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy | 8 | 16 | 12.81 | 6.98 | 11 | 1 & 0 |
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No space for Parag & Jurel
With the return of big guns like Samson and Dube, who were part of India’s T20 World Cup-winning campaign, young guns (Dhruv Jurel and Riyan Parag), who’d made their debut earlier in the side, won’t find a place in the XI once again. Of course, neither Jurel nor Parag did anything substantial to make their cases, but their getting excluded from the side is due to the main players being available for the last three matches of the series.
Predicted India Playing XI vs Zimbabwe for 4th T20I
Shubman Gill (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhishek Sharma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Tushar Deshpande, Khaleel Ahmed.