Shahbaz Ahmed announced as the replacement for Washington Sundar for India’s tour of Zimbabwe
Replacing Sundar in the Zimbabwe series is another youngster Shahbaz Ahmed. Ahmed revealed himself as a coveted asset for RCB in this year’s IPL.
India is set to face the Zimbabwean side in Harare in an ODI series set to start on the 18th of this month. KL Rahul has finally returned to the team after struggling with a string of injuries. However, amidst the preparations, another Indian squad member has fallen prey to an injury. Washington Sundar was included in the International side for this series after a significant break. However, the 22-year-old suffered an injury before he could even play.
The southpaw, apparently, suffered a left shoulder injury while diving on the field in his recent county match for Lancashire. The Indian side has lately expressed its plan to test young players as shown by their recent rapid changes in the team. As a result, one can note the inclusion of young stars like Shubman Gill and Ruturaj Gaikwad. And, this time is critical for the youngsters to grab any opportunity coming their way.
Shahbaz Ahmed Gets His Maiden International Call Up
UPDATE – Shahbaz Ahmed replaces injured Washington Sundar for Zimbabwe series.
More details here – https://t.co/Iw3yuLeBYy #ZIMvIND
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 16, 2022
However, replacing Sundar in the Zimbabwe series is another youngster Shahbaz Ahmed. Ahmed revealed himself as a coveted asset for RCB in this year’s IPL. The all-rounder provided a breakthrough to his team both through his batting and bowling. Consequently, the Indian management seems to have noticed the prodigy and included him in the series. This is the first international call-up for the 27-year-old batting all-rounder.
The Indian squad has already landed in Harare ahead of the start of the series. Earlier, it was reported that Shikhar will lead the team. However, KL Rahul received a green signal on his fitness and was included in the team as the captain midway through. The Zimbabwean side seems excited to have India on their soil to play against. Recently, the head coach of the Zimbabwe team, Dave Houghton expressed, “Zimbabwe will be having a huge test against India because we are playing the strongest side in the world. I still expect us to put up a good performance and compete really well”.
Hello from Harare 👋#TeamIndia | #ZIMvIND pic.twitter.com/Ds9gKppjS1
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 14, 2022
The first match of the series will be played on the 18th of August. The rest of the Indian Squad contains the names of players like Rahul Tripathi. It will be his first international outing as well. Moreover, this series will witness the return of Deepak Chahar who was ruled out of the whole IPL season due to a back injury.
India Squad against Zimbabwe for the ODI series: KL Rahul (Captain) Shikhar Dhawan (vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Sanju Samson (wicket-keeper), Shahbaz Ahmed, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Deepak Chahar.
