India made one change to their playing XI for the second T20I against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club on Saturday, handing a debut to Vidarbha fast bowler Yash Thakur. The 27-year-old replaced Ashok Sharma, who had made his T20I debut in the series opener but failed to pick up a wicket despite bowling his full quota of four overs.

Before his international call-up, Thakur had built an impressive resume across formats. He played 74 T20 matches and claimed 110 wickets, with best figures of 5/16 and an economy rate of 8.17. In the IPL, he featured in 22 games for Lucknow Super Giants and Punjab Kings, taking 27 wickets with a best of 4/30. His first-class record stands at 93 wickets from 32 matches, with a best innings haul of 5/44 and match figures of 6/50 at an economy of 3.34. In List A cricket, he picked up 90 wickets in 57 matches, with best figures of 5/53 and an economy of 5.40.

Thakur also impressed for India A in the tri-series in Sri Lanka last month, taking five wickets in three matches, and followed that up with five more wickets in two unofficial Tests against Sri Lanka A in Galle.

Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza won the toss and elected to bowl first, hoping to level the series after India won the opener by seven wickets. The hosts named an unchanged playing XI, while Thakur was the only change for India.

Playing XIs:

India: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Prince Yadav, Yash Thakur, Mayank Yadav

Zimbabwe: Brian Bennett, Ben Curran, Dion Myers, Sikandar Raza (c), Ryan Burl, Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani (wk), Brad Evans, Newman Nyamhuri, Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani

A victory in this match would give India an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, while Zimbabwe are fighting to keep their hopes alive.