The BCCI, on July 2, 2024, announced that it has added Jitesh Sharma, Harshit Rana, and Sai Sudharsan to the Indian squad for the first two T20Is against Zimbabwe. India is slated to play 5 T20Is in Zimbabwe in Harare, starting July 6.
Harshit Rana, Jitesh Sharma, and Sai Sudharsan have been named as replacements for Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, and Yashasvi Jaiswal for the first two T20Is against Zimbabwe.
This is because the arrival of Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, and Yashasvi Jaiswal has been delayed as the T20 World Cup 2024 winning Indian squad was stuck in Barbados even after winning the final on June 29. This was due to a hurricane resulting in heavy rains and destruction on the island.
The Indian team was forced to stay inside their hotel after the hurricane was expected to make landfall in Barbados on Monday. As per reports, the Indian team will fly out of Barbados on Tuesday, July 2 on a special flight arranged by the BCCI.
Journalist Vikrant Gupta stated that the Indian contingent was all set to leave Barbados on Tuesday at 6 pm Barbados time. This will be approximately 3:30 am on Wednesday in IST. The team is expected to land in Delhi by 7:45 pm on July 3, Wednesday.
This means that the arrival of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shivam Dube, and Sanju Samson, all part of the Zimbabwe squad also, has been delayed and they couldn’t join the Indian team which flew out to Zimbabwe.
The BCCI added that the trio of Jaiswal, Samson, and Dube will first land in India and will then fly to Zimbabwe.
“The Men’s Selection Committee has named Sai Sudharsan, Jitesh Sharma, and Harshit Rana as replacements for Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, and Yashasvi Jaiswal for the first two T20Is against Zimbabwe.
Originally slated to join the Zimbabwe-bound squad for the upcoming five-match T20I series starting Saturday, 6th July, the trio will travel to India first with the rest of the ICC T20 World Cup-winning Indian squad before departing for Harare,” BCCI said in a statement.
India’s squad for 1st & 2nd T20I against Zimbabwe:
Shubman Gill (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhishek Sharma, Rinku Singh, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Riyan Parag, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, Tushar Deshpande, Sai Sudharsan, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Harshit Rana
