3 Indian players who were unlucky not to get enough match practice in the Zimbabwe ODIs
Various young Team India cricketers have made their mark in ODIs against Zimbabwe at a nascent stage in their careers. Shubman Gill recently joined Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul on the list of players to have scored their maiden ODI hundred in Zimbabwe.
Playing the Chevrons for the first time since 2016, the Men in Blue had another opportunity to try out some fresh faces. But with the Asia Cup and the T20 World Cup looming, they decided to back their first-choice playing XI for the most part, only making changes when necessary.
Here are three Indian players who were unlucky not to get enough match practice in the ODI series against Zimbabwe.
#3 Rahul Tripathi
After earning a maiden call-up to the Indian ODI squad, Rahul Tripathi would've fancied his chances at featuring in the playing XI for at least one game. India had a host of wicketkeepers like Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan, and playing a specialist middle-order batter seemed like a course of action the team would take at some point.
However, Rahul's decision to bowl first in each of the first two ODIs put to bed Tripathi's chances of making the playing XI. Names like Samson and Deepak Hooda didn't get too many balls to face, leaving the management with no option but to continue to play them in the dead rubber.
Tripathi is bound to make his international debut at some point in the near future, but an excellent opportunity to make his mark seems to have passed him by.
#2 Ruturaj Gaikwad
Ruturaj Gaikwad's List A record makes for impressive reading. In 64 matches, he has scored 3,284 runs at an average of 54.73 and a strike rate of 100.09. He is yet to make his ODI debut, with another series having passed with him on the bench throughout.
Prior to Rahul's addition to the squad, Gaikwad was in line to get a game or two. Gill has been earmarked for a middle-order role in ODIs and Tests for a while now and he could've been moved to No. 3, leaving a spot alongside Shikhar Dhawan for the taking.
Gaikwad's best format is ODIs, and if India manage to give him a string of games to make a mark, he could have an impact similar to the one Gill has made recently.
#1 Deepak Hooda
Coming into the Zimbabwe series, Deepak Hooda's last six innings across formats for India read 33, 27, 33, 10*, 21 and 38. While he hasn't notched up a big score, akin to his superb century in the T20I series against Ireland, he has made the most of his superb form with a series of consistent knocks.
Against Zimbabwe, Hooda could've built on his performance and recorded a string of big scores. But again, India's bizarre decision to bowl first in the first two ODIs took his chances away. Although he got a chance to bat in each of the last two ODIs, it wasn't in situations where he could've built an innings.
Hooda bowled three overs, picking up a wicket. But India could've got a lot more from the man in form had they been more prudent with their decision-making.