Will shorter be sweeter for Team India?

After the humiliation they suffered in the ODI tri-series,India will look to make amends and take revenge against giant-slayers Zimbabwe in the first Twenty20 International at the Harare Sports Club on Saturday....

After the humiliation they suffered in the ODI tri-series,India will look to make amends and take revenge against giant-slayers Zimbabwe in the first Twenty20 International at the Harare Sports Club on Saturday. Here with a second-string team,India were dumped out of the just-concluded tri-series after suffering back-to-back defeats against the spirited Zimbabweans. The host team,which lost the tri-series final to Sri Lanka,would be plotting another shocker for the Indians.

The break that followed their tri-series ouster has given Suresh Rainas men enough time to chalk out their plans to avoid another stunner from Elton Chigumburas fighting side. The key to Indias success is batting and the line-up is desperately missing the heavyweights,who were rested from the series.

Dinesh Karthik and M Vijay are not exactly the ideal opening pair for Twenty20s as both the batsmen are known to take their time in settling down at the crease before attempting strokes. In fact,the duo couldnt make much of an impact in the ODI series failing to score any memorable knock.

Rohit Sharma,Virat Kohli and Raina himself are the men in form and would look to continue their run in the two Twenty20s. A lot would be expected from Twenty20 specialist Yusuf Pathan,who would be aiming to prove his worth after being dropped from the ODI squad for the upcoming Asia Cup owing to poor run of form.

On the bowling front,the Indian spin attack would be bolstered by the arrival of Piyush Chawla as Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha have not made a mark so far on the tour. The pace department is not too impressive either with Ashok Dinda and Umesh Yadav both conceding too many runs for too few wickets.

Zimbabwe,on the other hand,are high on morale despite the tri-series final loss to Sri Lanka. The team has shown the stomach for a fight and they would be looking to continue just that. Their batsmen showed decent form in the ODIs and would be looking to be slightly more aggressive in the shortest format of the game.

Camp called off

Training on the opening day of the Indian cricket teams preparatory camp for the Asia Cup was called off because of inclement weather here on Friday. Rains since morning forced the team management to call off the days practice session.

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Eight cricketers have assembled here for a two-day camp ahead of the Asia Cup beginning in Sri Lanka from June 15.Suresh Raina and six other Indian cricketers will fly directly to Colombo after completing their Twenty20 engagements against Zimbabwe. Rohit Sharma,Virat Kohli,Ravindra Jadeja,R Ashwin,Ashok Dinda and Pragyan Ojha,who are presently on national duty in Zimbabwe,were the other cricketers.

The Teams:

India: Suresh Raina (captain),M Vijay,Dinesh Karthik,Virat Kohli,Rohit Sharma,Yusuf Pathan,Ravindra Jadeja,R Ashwin,Umesh Yadav,Abhimanyu Mithun,Ashok Dinda,Pankaj Singh,Amit Mishra,Pragyan Ojha,Naman Ojha,Piyush Chawla.

Zimbabwe: Elton Chigumbura (capt),Andy Blignaut,Chamu Chibhabha,Charles Coventry,Graeme Cremer,Craig Ervine,Greg Lamb,Hamilton Masakadza,Chris Mpofu,Ray Price,Ed Rainsford,Vusi Sibanda,Tatenda Taibu,Brendan Taylor,Prosper Utseya.

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