3 Player Battles to watch out for in India vs Zimbabwe T20Is ft. Shubman Gill vs Blessing Muzarabani
T20 World champions India will take on Zimbabwe in a five-match T20I series set to begin on Saturday, July 6, in Harare. The new-look Men in Blue side has several fresh faces and will be led by star opener Shubman Gill.
Zimbabwe failed to qualify for the T20 World Cup 2024 and will want to put that disappointment behind by giving a good account of themselves against India. They do have some quality players like captain Sikandar Raza and speedster Blessing Muzarabani, who are capable of single-handedly winning games for their side.
India also have some exciting young players and some experienced names who would want to cement their T20 spots going forward. On that note, let's take a look at three match-ups that could generate a good level of intrigue throughout the series:
3 Player Battles to watch out for in India vs Zimbabwe T20Is
#3 Abhishek Sharma vs Luke Jongwe
India's stand-in captain Shubamn Gill has confirmed that Abhishek Sharma will be opening for the Men in Blue alongside him in the first T20I. The southpaw had a breakout IPL 2024 season which is one of the main reasons why he received a maiden call-up.
In 16 matches, Abhishek scored as many as 484 runs at a fantastic strike rate of 204.22 and his ultra-aggressive style of batting might be exactly what India may need going forward. He will have an interesting match-up against Zimbabwe pacer Luke Jongwe.
Jongwe is one of the experienced bowlers for Zimbabwe with 63 T20Is and 65 T20I wickets under his belt. If he gets the new ball, he will look to hit the right areas and it will be interesting to see how Abhishek deals with lateral movement on offer, if any.
#2 Sikandar Raza vs Ravi Bishnoi
Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza will look to lead by example in the T20Is against India. He will be arguably the biggest wicket for the Men in Blue, being the fulcrum of his team's middle order. Raza can play spin well and that makes his match-up with Ravi Bishnoi an interesting one.
Having missed the flight to the T20 World Cup 2024, Bishnoi will want to prove his mettle and cement his place in the shortest format now that Ravindra Jadeja has retired. He has bowled 11 deliveries to Sikandar Raza in T20s, conceding 19 runs, and has dismissed the Zimbabwe captain once.
#1 Shubman Gill vs Blessing Muzarabani
Zimbabwe speedster Blessing Muzarabani told the reporters ahead of the T20I series that it would be nice if he gets the wicket of Shubman Gill. This sets up one of the biggest match-ups in the series nicely. Just like Bishnoi, even Gill would want to cement his place in the Indian side after the T20I retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have opened a spot for Yashasvi Jaiswal's potential opening partner,
However, the encounter against Muzurabani with the new ball won't be a straightforward one. Muzarabani has 60 wickets in 51 T20Is at an economy rate of 7.35 and his height will help him get a steep bounce. Add the potential lateral movement with the new ball to that and Shubman Gill may have a tough examination upfront.