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Cricket News: Who will captain India in the Zimbabwe ODI series? | Who will lead India in their ODI tour of Zimbabwe?
KL Rahul has been cleared fit by the medical team of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The 30-year-old will thus lead India in the upcoming three-match One-Day International (ODI) series in Zimbabwe that will begin from 18th August.
Earlier, Shikhar Dhawan was named as the captain for the tour. However, he will now take a backseat and assume the vice-captaincy duties upon Rahul’s return to the setup.
Rahul has battled multiple injury concerns after the 15th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL). He has dealt with a groin injury, hamstring issues, sports hernia and even Covid-19 over the past couple of months.
KL Rahul set to play first match for India in six months
Rahul last played for India way back in February this year. He had to miss India’s tours to England and the Caribbean last month. Meanwhile, impressive performances by the likes of Deepak Hooda and Suryakumar Yadav in the time being were arguably adding pressure on Rahul’s spot in India’s T20I playing XI.
However, the move to reinstate him as the skipper for the Zimbabwe tour has further emphasized that he is firmly included in the team’s plans for the T20 World Cup later on this year. Rahul is a part of India’s squad for the Asia Cup and the series in Zimbabwe will give him an ideal platform to get back into his groove with the bat.
Other mainstays like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah have been rested for the aforementioned series. Dhawan had led India to an emphatic 3-0 ODI series victory against West Indies last month. However, Rahul was the captain in the ODI leg vs South Africa back in January this year and rightfully takes back that place in Rohit’s absence in Zimbabwe.
The three ODIs will be played on 18th, 20th and 22nd August in the Harare Sports Club.
India squad for Zimbabwe series: KL Rahul to captain
KL Rahul (c), Shikhar Dhawan (vc), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Ishan Kishan (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Mohd Siraj, Deepak Chahar
