Mukesh Kumar, right-arm medium, comes into the attack
0.6
Khaleel Ahmed to Madhevere, no run, 133 kph delivery, well outside off, Madhevere throws his bat at it and misses. That was miles outside off and Madhevere
0.5
Khaleel Ahmed to Madhevere, no run
0.4
Khaleel Ahmed to Madhevere, no run, stabs the ball down into the off-side
0.3
Khaleel Ahmed to Madhevere, 2 runs, to third man
0.2
Khaleel Ahmed to Madhevere, no run
0.1
Khaleel Ahmed to Madhevere, FOUR, to long-off
Madhevere and Kaia are at the crease. Madhevere is on strike. Khaleel Ahmed will open the attack
The Indian national anthem is on now.
Action isn't too far away. India will bowl first.
We have made three changes to our expert XI in Fantasy Handbook, do make sure you take a look.
Teams:
Zimbabwe (Playing XI): Tadiwanashe Marumani, Innocent Kaia, Brian Bennett, Sikandar Raza(c), Dion Myers, Johnathan Campbell, Clive Madande(w), Wessly Madhevere, Luke Jongwe, Blessing Muzarabani, Tendai Chatara
India (Playing XI): Shubman Gill(c), Abhishek Sharma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Riyan Parag, Rinku Singh, Dhruv Jurel(w), Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed
Tino Mawoyo @ pitch report: Slight covering of grass. Would dry out quickly. The surface won't change much. Good batting wicket. 150 is the average score at Harare in the last 10-12 games but don't think that would be enough on this deck.
Sikandar Raza: I don't mind batting first. The wicket looks good. Zimbabwe cricket has trusted me with this transition phase. I look for young boys to come out and fight. It is humbling to lead this bunch. Sean has retired. It is a young side. Ervine will have a role in future.
Shubman Gill: We will field first. I think it looks like a good surface. It won't change much later. It has been long coming. We won an ICC event after 11 years. You always have some expectations from yourself. We have three debutants. Sharma, Jurel and Parag make their debuts.
India have won the toss and have opted to field
Zimbabwe have toured Bangladesh and Sri Lanka for T20Is in the near past and gave a decent account of themselves with a win each on each tour. But they need to play consistent cricket against this Indian side else they won't be competitive. Bennett is an upcoming talent. Kaia and Campbell have the game as well. Raza is the apt leader and Zimbabwe despite leaving out Ervine and Williams will look to perform well.
Jaiswal, Samson and Dube were supposed to be a part of this squad but had to go back to be part of the celebrations back home. They will miss the first two games. But as mentioned above, India's depth seems to be endless. Gill will lead the side and there is the classy Gaikwad to give him company at the top. Abhishek Sharma, Rinku Singh and Riyan Parag will bolster the rest of the batting. Where as Mukesh Kumar and Avesh Khan will lead the bowling pack alongside Ravi Bishnoi.