Is Shivam Dube playing today's IND vs ZIM 3rd T20I match?
Team India all-rounder Shivam Dube returns to the playing XI for the third T20I against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club on Wednesday, July 10. He was unavailable for the first two matches of the series as he was part of the Indian winning squad that lifted the 2024 T20 World Cup title recently.
Dube, who played the entire tournament in the Caribbean and the United States of America, was part of the celebrations after the squad returned to the country with the silverware. With meetings with the prime minister in Delhi and the Maharashtra chief minister in Mumbai scheduled, Dube was not part of the first two T20Is in Zimbabwe.
Shivam Dube was initially not part of the squad, and instead came in as an injury replacement for fellow all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy.
Skipper Shubman Gill confirmed during the toss that Dube along with the other players returning from the World Cup winning squad make it to the playing XI.
"We will bat first. Looks like a good wicket, few cracks there. We have got the World Cup winners back in the team. All three Yashasvi, Sanju and Shivam Dube comes back in. Mukesh is resting in this one while Khaleel comes back in. We have got a pretty balanced side. Deep batting with the power hitters coming in.," Gill said after opting to bat first.
The series is well poised at 1-1 with three matches to go. Zimbabwe secured a shock, slender win in the series opener while India fought back to attain a mammoth win in the second match.
Shivam Dube expected to bat deep in the middle order in the
The Men in Blue have named a stacked batting unit, with arguably four opening batters in the mix to occupy the top slots. Dube returns to strengthen the middle order with Sanju Samson and Rinku Singh in the mix as well.
India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill(c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson(w), Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, and Khaleel Ahmed.
Zimbabwe (Playing XI): Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wessly Madhevere, Brian Bennett, Dion Myers, Sikandar Raza(c), Johnathan Campbell, Clive Madande(w), Wellington Masakadza, Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani, and Tendai Chatara.