Kohli leads Indian cricket team on Zimbabwe tour

Mumbai, July 21 (IANS): A 15-member Indian cricket squad, led by Virat Kholi, left here on a Zimbabwe tour Sunday morning. The team will play five One-Day Internatioanals against Zimbabwe over the 11-day tour, starting July 24.

Regular Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been rested by the national selectors to give him some respite from international cricket.

The selectors have also rested frontline seamers – Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar and spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

The young Indian team will see two new faces – Jammu and Kashmir all-rounder Parvez Rasool and fast bowler Mohit Sharma.

India on their previous tour of Zimbabwe failed to even reach the final of a Tri-Series tournament, also involving Sri Lanka.

The then Indian team led by Suresh Raina also had Virat Kholi, Ravindra Jadeja, Vinay Kumar and Rohit Sharma. They are included in the current squad as well.

India did pull off the two-match Twenty-20 series 2-0 win against the hosts after the tri-series.

India Squad:

Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Cheteshwar Pujara, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ajinkya Rahane, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Parvez Rasool, Mohammed Shami, Vinay Kumar, Jaidev Unadkat and Mohit Sharma.

Schedule:

Jul 24: 1st ODI- Harare; Jul 26: 2nd ODI- Harare; Jul 28: 3rd ODI- Harare; Jul 31: 4th ODI Bulawayo; Aug 3: 5th ODI Bulawayo.