Delhi: The 5-match T20 International series between India and Zimbabwe is going to start from Saturday. At the same time, with the Indian team winning the ICC T20 World Cup after 17 years, veteran players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja have announced their retirement from T20I. Due to this, Team India has to prepare for the T20 World Cup to be held in India in 2026. It will start with the T20 series against Zimbabwe.

The Indian team led by young opener Shubman Gill has given a chance to young players who performed well in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, who are excited to perform brilliantly in the upcoming series. In such a situation, Gill spoke on many issues in the press conference.

24-year-old Shubman Gill said, “Indian team's veteran Rohit Sharma is an opener. Virat Kohli is also an opener in the T20 World Cup. I have played as an opener in T20 matches before, so I want to start again in T20. There is extra pressure and expectation while playing as a captain. Reaching the heights that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have reached as captains is the biggest achievement.”

He further said, “Every player has a goal of where he wants to be. If you want to achieve a goal that others have achieved, there will be additional pressure. I have learned a lot as a player while captaining in the IPL. I got to know more about myself. I also learned the leadership approach, but the biggest challenge as a captain is morale. Every player should be properly prepared.”

T20I series against Zimbabwe will be challenging – Gill

The right-handed batsman further said, “This team is different from the Indian team that played the T20 World Cup. There are many young players in this team. I think it is important to give many young Indian players the experience of international cricket in this T20 series. The Zimbabwe team cannot be taken lightly, because the last time we came here, we played an ODI series, so there is no doubt that this will be a challenging series.”

It is worth noting that Shubman Gill did not find a place in the top Indian team for the recently concluded ICC T20 World Cup 2024.