Shubman Gill likely to captain India on Zimbabwe tour, Riyan Parag to get maiden call-up - Reports

Young opener Shubman Gill led Gujarat Titans in IPL 2024.

Opener Shubman Gill is in line to be named the India skipper for next month’s 5-T20I series in Zimbabwe, where the BCCI will be sending a second-string squad filled with fringe and young players.

According to a report in The Indian Express, the selectors have earmarked Gill to lead the team on the Zimbabwe tour. India will tour Zimbabwe for 5 T20I, starting July 6.

With Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav, two white-ball specialists who have led the T20I team in the past couple of years, currently participating in the ICC T20 World Cup 2024, the selectors want to give them rest from the Zimbabwe tour and also try out youngsters in the upcoming series.

Shubman Gill captained in the IPL for the first time this year

Gill has some captaincy experience behind him as he led his Gujarat Titans (GT) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season after Hardik returned to Mumbai Indians. GT, however, failed to qualify for the playoffs, finishing in the eighth position with five wins.

Gill was recently in the USA as part of the travelling reserves with the main squad. He returned to India after the USA leg was completed.

Further. the report added that Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Tushar Deshpande, and Harshit Rana are likely to receive their maiden India call-ups. All of these players were impressive in the IPL 2024 for their respective franchises.

Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal, who have been on the bench in the T20 World Cup so far, are expected to be selected, and so is Rinku Singh, who is a travelling reserve in the West Indies.

VVS Laxman is likely to be the interim coach to travel to Zimbabwe since the board has not yet announced the new India head coach. Rahul Dravid’s tenure is set to end at the conclusion of the T20 World Cup.

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