Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, 5 others training at NCA in hope of getting picked in India squad for Zimbabwe T20Is

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India's tour of Zimbabwe would kick off with the first T20I in Harare on July 6. The Indian team for the five-match T20I series is likely to be announced very soon, and a few of the IPL stars are already training hard at the NCA in the hope of getting picked for the tour.

India's Zimbabwe tour would kick off just a week after the completion of the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024. Most of the senior players and regular members of India's T20I setup would not feature in the series against the minnows.

The next T20 World Cup is scheduled to take place in 2026, and the focus of the senior members will be shifting to the Test and ODI matches. The ICC Champions Trophy is scheduled to be held in Pakistan early next year.

Therefore, the Zimbabwe tour is all set to give debut opportunities to several youngsters and IPL stars. A handful of them are already training hard at the NCA in the hope of being picked in India's squad for the Zimbabwe T20Is.

The likes of Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Mayank Yadav, Harshit Rana, Nitish Reddy, Vijaykumar Vyshak, and Yash Dayal are at the NCA in Bengaluru ahead of the India squad announcement.

All these players made all the right noises in the IPL 2024. While Riyan Parag (RR) finished as the third-highest run-scorer, Abhishek Sharma (SRH) was tenth. Harshit Rana's 19 wickets were the joint four-highest in the season. Mayan Yadav (LSG) made headlines with his lethal place, while Nitish Reddy (SRH) impressed with his all-round abilities.

Yash Dayal also scripted a glorious comeback in the season by burying the ghosts of IPL 2023 season. CSK needed 17 runs to qualify with MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja in the middle when the pacer salvaged him by giving away just seven runs after being hot for a six on the first ball of the 20th over.

"Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Mayank Yadav, Harshit Rana, Nitish Reddy, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yash Dayal are all at the camp. Some will go to Zimbabwe T20Is," a BCCI source told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

India squad for Zimbabwe Series: Rinku Singh, Shubman Gill expected to feature

Rinku Singh, Shubman Gill, Avesh Khan and Khaleel Ahmed - who were named as India's travelling reserves for the T20 World Cup 2024 can also feature in the India squad for the T20I series against Zimbabwe. Sai Sudharshan, Rahul Tewatia, T Natarajan, Harshal Patel, Varun Chakravarthy, Tilak Varma and Ruturaj Gaikwad can also be in contention.