Zimbabwe vs India 1st T20I: The celebration of winning the T20 World Cup 2024 is still going on in India but the young players of Team India are ready to spread their flair in Zimbabwe. India has to play a 5-match T20 International series on the Zimbabwe tour, which is starting from July 6 in Harare. The selectors have rested all the senior players for this series. At the same time, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson and Shivam Dubey, who were selected in the squad for the ninth edition of the T20 World Cup, were also rested from the first two T20 Internationals, as all three of them would not be able to reach there as per the scheduled time.

India's young T20 team includes many stars who have played before. At the same time, there are some new faces who will have a chance to debut. The new players include Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Tushar Deshpande, Sai Sudarshan, Harshit Rana and Tushar Deshpande. Team India's squad has a total of 15 players, so some will have to sit out of the playing XI of the first T20 match. However, in this article we are going to mention 3 such players who should definitely be included in the playing XI of the first T20 match to be held on Saturday.

3. Harshit Rana

Right-arm fast bowler Harshit Rana garnered a lot of attention with his performance in the 17th season of IPL. He impressed a lot with his ability on the field and his aggressive style. Harshit's bowling was very important in helping Kolkata Knight Riders win the title. He has different variations in bowling, which are not at all easy to read.

Harshit bowled in 11 innings for KKR in IPL 2024 and took 19 wickets. Apart from bowling, Harshit also has the ability to bat well in the lower order and he has shown this in domestic cricket. In such a situation, there is a great opportunity to try Harshit against Zimbabwe and he has the skill to give much better quality than other options.

2. Abhishek Sharma

Abhishek Sharma of Punjab, who performed well in domestic cricket, performed brilliantly for Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2024. The left-handed player impressed fans as well as cricket experts with his explosive batting. Due to his excellent performance, some people also advocated for his selection in the T20 World Cup 2024, but it did not happen.

However, Abhishek managed to make his place in the Zimbabwe series. He has the ability to make the match one-sided in the powerplay. In such a situation, he should definitely be given a chance in the playing XI of the first T20 International, because in the top order there are players like captain Shubman Gill, Rituraj Gaikwad, who are not known for playing very fast. Apart from this, he is also adept at bowling.

1. Riyan Parag

Riyan Parag, who was criticised for his poor performance in IPL, performed well in domestic cricket before the 17th season and continued the same for Rajasthan Royals. This time Rajasthan played Riyan at number 4 and he lived up to the expectations. The Indian team can also give Riyan a chance at this position against Zimbabwe, because he is much better than other options and his recent form is also excellent. Apart from this, Riyan also has the ability to bowl spin. This will also give the captain plenty of options in bowling.