KL Rahul-led Team India arrives in Zimbabwe for ODI series, VVS Laxman to coach the side

Harare, Aug 14: The Indian cricket team under the leadership of KL Rahul arrived in Harare on Sunday (August 14) for the upcoming three-ODI series. The Indian squad left for the tour Down Under, starting August 18.

Rahul was joined by his fellow teammates and National Cricket Academy (NCA) head VVS Laxman on their tour of the African nation. India wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav also shared a selfie with his captain while onboard the flight on Sunday. The duo was seen wearing India jackets as they smiled at the camera.

Sharing the video on Instagram, Kuldeep wrote, "Quick one with the skip before we take off... Zimbabwe calling @klrahul."

Later in the day, Zimbabwe Cricket's Twitter handle shared a video of Team India's arrival in Harare and captioned it, "They are here now . . . India have just landed in Harare ahead of the three-match ODI series against 🇿🇼 scheduled for 18, 20 and 22 August at Harare Sports Club."

They are here now . . . 🇮🇳 have just landed in Harare ahead of the three-match ODI series against 🇿🇼 scheduled for 18, 20 and 22 August at Harare Sports Club #WelcomeIndia | #ZIMvIND | #VisitZimbabwe pic.twitter.com/lViHCYPSPL

— Zimbabwe Cricket (@ZimCricketv) August 13, 2022

India have named KL Rahul as the captain for the ODIs against Zimbabwe after the BCCI medical team cleared him to play in the series starting on 18 August.

Rahul has received the green signal from the BCCI medical team for the three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe next week. The opener has been out of action for a while with a sports hernia, with Covid-19 extending his stint on the sidelines.

Shikhar Dhawan was initially named as the captain for this tour, but with Rahul being given the go-ahead, Dhawan will take up the vice-captain duties.

Dhawan had led the Indian side to a 3-0 drubbing of West Indies last month and was subsequently named as the captain for the Zimbabwe tour with senior players Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya rested.

Washington Sundar, Kuldeep and Deepak Chahar were the others who returned to the ODI squad after recovering from injuries. Rahul Tripathi was the other new face named in the squad.

Rahul last played for India in February against the West Indies after leading the team in South Africa in the second Test match and then the entire ODI leg.

India ODI squad: KL Rahul (c), Shikhar Dhawan (vc), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Ishan Kishan (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Mohd Siraj, Deepak Chahar