India vs. Zimbabwe: Indian Squad Preview

India looked rather satiated when they started the Tri-Nation series in West Indies within a week off their Champions Trophy triumph and even though they lifted their game through the course of the series to win it eventually courtesy the brilliance of MS Dhoni, this short rest before the tour to Zimbabwe will be well appreciated.

Some of the key senior players have been rested for the series and that is definitely a good move. Virat Kohli gained valuable experience leading the side in the West Indies in the absence of MS Dhoni and he will have yet another opportunity to continue the good work in Zimbabwe.

There will be a number of goals that India would like to achieve in Zimbabwe but the first and foremost will be to get yet another victory under their belt and consolidate upon the top ranking that they have secured. Virat Kohli will have a bunch of new players at his disposal and he must find the best possible balance as quickly as possible.

This series will allow India to create a bigger pool of players for the future. India will play a critical series at home against Australia later in the year and a fine exhibition against Zimbabwe might help some players grab those couple of vacant spots.

On the other hand, the likes of Suresh Raina, Dinesh Karthik, Vinay Kumar and Shami Ahmed have just done enough at the Tri-Nation tournament  and would like to put up a better showing against Zimbabwe.

Suresh Raina did not get a lot of opportunities to bat at the Champions Trophy as the top-order consistently delivered but his showing in West Indies was disappointing. He failed to get a half-century in the series when he had a handful of opportunities. He is a live-wire in the field and occasionally useful with the ball so his place is under no threat but he must make a greater contribution with the bat.

Dinesh Karthik forced his way into the Indian team with a number of eye-catching performances with the bat at the Indian premier League. He backed that up with two consecutive centuries in the warm-up matches prior to the Champions Trophy that earned him the number 4 spot in the star-studded Indian batting line-up.

He has failed to deliver ever since though he did not have a significant role to play in the Champions Trophy apart from a half-century against  the West Indies. He averaged below 27.00 in ODI’s even though he has 62 matches to his name. He is a hugely gifted batsman who can play fast bowling and spin with equal elan and it will be good for Indian cricket if he can put some runs under his belt.