In what turned out to be a bolt from the blue, the Board of Control for Cricket in India appointed batsman Ajinkya Rahane to lead a second string Team India for the upcoming Zimbabwe tour.

7-5-3 Combination

The 15-man squad comprises of 7 specialist batsmen, 5 medium pacers and 3 spinners. Ace offie Harbhajan Singh will be making a comeback to the international circuit after a long time, as he will be joined by some of the country’s domestic performers.

Key Players Rested

While most of the veteran players including regular skipper MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin, Suresh Raina, and Shikhar Dhawan were rested, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja was axed following a dismal show in the recently-concluded Bangladesh series.

Schedule and Venue 

The two teams are scheduled to cross the swords in 3 ODIs and 2 T20Is. The tour kicks-off from July 10 with the Harare Sports Club in Harare slated to host all the matches.

India’s Squad for Zimbabwe Tour

Ajinkya Rahane (Captain), Murali Vijay, Ambati Rayudu, Manoj Tiwary, Kedar Jadhav, Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Harbhajan Singh, Axar Patel, Karn Sharma, Dhawal Kulkarni, Stuart Binny, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohit Sharma, Sandeep Sharma.