By: Tarish Bhatt
The Indian team is heading into the 2nd T20 to level the three-match series. MS Dhoni’s men were shocked in the series opener by resilient Zimbabwe at the same venue.
It is a must-win encounter for the young Indian team to remain in the series. And, also to make the Wednesday’s contest a virtual T20 final at the Harare Sports Club.
Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat first on a pitch that is expected to play fair. Graeme Cremer, Zimbabwe captain, was expecting the wicket to remain same throughout the game.
The Indian team showed that they are in to win the contest. They made a couple of changes from the last match. Pacers Barinder Sran and Dhawal Kulkarni were added into the playing XI.
They replaced Rishi Dhawan and Jaydev Unadkat in the playing XI. Both Sran and Kulkarni received their T20 caps from captain Dhoni before the match.
“We definitely need to give a lot of credit to the way they batted,” Dhoni said. “Quite a few areas where we need to improve. In high-scoring games, all runs count.”
India Playing XI: KL Rahul, Mandeep Singh, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Axar Patel, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jasprit Bumrah Barinder Sran and Yuzvendra Chahal.
Zimbabwe Playing XI: Chibhabha, Masakadza, Sikandar Raza, Waller, Chigumbura, Moor (wk), Mutombodzi, Cremer (c), Madziva, Muzarabani and Tiripano.
