IND vs ZIM 4th T20I: Tushar Deshpande Becomes Fifth Player to Make Debut For India in Zimbabwe Series

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Pacer Tushar Deshpande became fifth player to make debut for India in the ongoing series against Zimbabwe as skipper Shubman Gill opted to field first in the fourth T20I at the Harare Sports Club in Harare on Saturday (July 13).

Deshpande joins Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel and Sai Sudharsan in making a first T20I appearance for the Indian team during the series. Deshpande earned a deserved call up on the back of impressive IPL and domestic performances.

Deshpande, who has impressed with his performances for Chennai Super Kings and his state team Mumbai, was very happy to fulfill his childhood dream of playing for the country.

"Very happy to be here. It all goes back to my childhood days when I dreamt of playing for my country. Being here wearing the blue feels very proud. Means a lot to me. The atmosphere is really great here," Deshpande said before the match.

"Playing for CSK in the IPL helped me. That experience will surely help me in the internationals. I started as a batsman, so that comes naturally to me, looking to refine it and I have been working on it. Overall the atmosphere in the team is chill."

At the toss, Gill said: "We'll bowl first. It looks like a fresh wicket. Hopefully, there's going to be something in it for the fast bowlers. Death bowling is where we can improve. We got a little complacent (in the previous match). Tushar Deshpande makes his debut in place of Avesh Khan."

Zimbabwe skipper Sikandar Raza, on the other hand, said that if he had won the toss, he would have elected to bat first and revealed the one change for the team in form of Faraz Akram coming in for Wellington Masakadza.

"We wanted to bat first. The wicket tends to get slower and slower. We've got a vision for 2026, the only way to get better is quality game time. Hopefully, our top three can click. Our idea is for all three departments to perform. The boys are hungry. Wellington Masakadaza misses out. Faraz Akram comes in," Raza said.

India vs Zimbabwe 4th T20I Playing 11

India XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill (c), Abhishek Sharma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson (wk), Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Tushar Deshpande, Khaleel Ahmed.

Zimbabwe XI: Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Brian Bennett, Dion Myers, Sikandar Raza (c), Johnathan Campbell, Faraz Akram, Clive Madande (wk), Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani, Tendai Chatara.