Zimbabwe will face India in the first T20I at the Harare Sports Club, Harare on Thursday. India was recently stunned by Ireland and thus they won’t make the mistake of being complacent against Zimbabwe. The Men in Blue have lost their last six T20I matches and the hosts would aim to push the visitors on the backfoot.

India was not up to the mark on the UK tour and they would be determined to turn a corner against Zimbabwe. There will be questions hanging in the Indian dressing room and the players would look to answer them after a disappointing tour of Ireland and England.

India has picked an inexperienced team, especially the bowling line-up with bowlers like Yash Thakur, Mayank Yadav and Ashok Sharma getting picked in the squad.

Sanju Samson was surprisingly left out of the squad, meaning Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will open the innings with Abhishek Sharma. 

Shreyas Iyer is yet to register his maiden win as a T20I captain and the Indian skipper would look to get the best out of his players.

On the other hand, Zimbabwe would look to make the most of their own conditions. They had stunned India in the first T20I in 2024 as the visitors were bowled out for 102 runs at Harare.

The likes of Blessing Muzarabani and Richard Ngarava will definitely test the Indian batters with hard length deliveries.

Head to Head: Matches: 14, Won by India: 11, Won by Zimbabwe: 3.

India squad: Shreyas Iyer (C), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma (VC), Ishan Kishan (WK), Shivam Dube, Suryansh Shedge, Rinku Singh, Harsh Dubey, Varun Chakaravarthy, Prince Yadav, Yash Thakur, Ashok Sharma, Mayank Yadav, Prabhsimran Singh (WK)

Zimbabwe squad: Sikandar Raza (captain), Brian Bennett, Ryan Burl, Tanaka Chivanga, Ben Curran, Brad Evans, Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Blessing Muzarabani, Dion Myers, Richard Ngarava, Newman Nyamhuri, Milton Shumba, Tafadzwa Tsiga.