Opener Shubman Gill, 24, is likely to lead a young team for the white-ball tour of Zimbabwe comprising 5 T20s which begins on July 6. The core of the team involved in the T20 World Cup, including Virat Kohli and captain Rohit Sharma, will be given a break, it is learnt.
The senior selection committee wanted Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav to take some rest ahead of the long season.
In-form Sunrisers Hyderabad opener Abhishek Sharma and Riyan Parag, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Tushar Deshpande, Harshit Rana, all regulars for their respective teams in the IPL will board the flight to Zimbabwe and so will those on the bench during the T20 World Cup, Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rinku Singh.
The Indian Express understands, the senior selection committee has already picked a provisional 20-member squad for upcoming series but were waiting to hear back from Hardik and Suryakumar.
Gill, who travelled to the Indian team to USA as a reserve player, returned to India along with pacer Avesh Khan as the team management wanted to give them a break as they were unlikely to feature in any of the T20 World Cup games.
It is the first time Abhishek Sharma, 23, will be selected for an Indian team. The Punjab batsman had scored 484 runs and along with Travis Head, gave SRH flying starts in the IPL. Rajasthan Royals’ Riyan Parag too had a great IPL season tallying 573 runs. The selectors wanted to test out another medium-pace allround and hence picked SRH’s Reddy. Reddy had won BCCI’s emerging player of the year award. Mumbai’s pacer Deshpande, had a good domestic season, was a dependable bowler for Chennai Super Kings.
Delhi’s Rana, had a good IPL final, and was consistent with his pace during the season.
With the Indian board yet to appoint the next Indian team new coach, the BCCI has decided to put VVS Laxman in-charge for the Zimbabwe tour. Laxman is the head of cricket at the National Cricket Academy. The next Indian coach is likely to join the team for the tour of Sri Lanka which begins on July 27.
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