IND vs ZIM 1st T20I: Shreyas Iyer-led India opt to bowl, Ashok Sharma makes T20I debut vs Zimbabwe

India captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to bowl first against Zimbabwe in the opening T20I of the three-match series at the Harare Sports Club on Thursday, with pacer Ashok Sharma handed his T20I debut.

Ashok joins Prince Yadav and Mayank Yadav in India’s pace attack, while Ravi Bishnoi is the lone frontline spinner in the playing XI.

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Explaining his decision at the toss, Iyer said he expected the surface to offer assistance to the fast bowlers.

“We are going to bowl first. This is my first time here, so I don’t know how the wicket is going to play. But looking at the practice wickets and the wickets on the side, there was a decent amount of bounce. So definitely, that’s one of the aspects.

“I don’t know how it’s going to play, but we’re anticipating some bounce. We’re going with three seamers and one spinner,” Iyer said.

The Indian skipper also praised Zimbabwe’s recent rise in white-ball cricket.

“Absolutely, they’ve been playing brilliantly for the last couple of years, especially at the World Cup. The way they played was pleasing to the eye. The batsmen and the bowlers executed their strengths. It was amazing,” he added.

Zimbabwe hand debuts to Ben Curran, Newman Nyamhuri

Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza revealed that Ben Curran and Newman Nyamhuri were making their T20I debuts. He also expected the pitch to ease out after offering some early assistance to the bowlers.

“This is not your typical Harare Sports Club wicket. There will be something in the start, but I don’t expect it to last too long. I think there are a lot of runs on this wicket and hopefully we can put up those runs on the board,” Raza said.

Reflecting on Zimbabwe’s recent series against Bangladesh, Raza said there were plenty of positives despite the 2-1 T20I series defeat.

“Our bowling unit has been holding themselves really well, and our top-order batters contributed the bulk of the runs. Hopefully the middle and lower order can step up as well.”

Zimbabwe were also forced into a late squad change before the series, with batter Milton Shumba ruled out because of a hamstring injury. Innocent Kaia was named as his replacement.

For India, the series is a crucial opportunity for Iyer, who is seeking his first T20I victory as captain after series defeats to Ireland and England. The spotlight will also be on teenage opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who is looking to make a bigger impact after a modest debut series against England.

IND vs ZIM 1st T20I: Playing XIs

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

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