India have announced their 15-man squad for the upcoming tour of Zimbabwe, with Shikhar Dhawan returning as captain. The squad looks more or less the same as the one that played in the West Indies where India won 3-0. The southpaw is in the squad as skipper and opener Shubman Gill is likely to open alongside him for the three-match ODI series. Deepak Hooda, Sanju Samson, and Shreyas Iyer have the same names in the middle order. The pace battery also looks the same as the likes of Prasad Krishna and Arsdeep Singh return. However, it was Virat Kohli who once again got the ax from the squad that was missing senior players like Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant and Rohit Sharma. Reports said that Kohli had asked himself to rest in the Asia Cup starting on August 27.
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Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif, who captained Pakistan in 6 Tests and 25 ODIs, said India should focus on the looming problem of lack of stable leadership. “The team looks good but too many captains is not good for long-term success,” he said.
“Everyone talks about backups. But they have now produced seven backup captains in the last year! This is the first time in India’s history. Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan. , Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah… they are repeating the same mistake that Pakistan did in the 1990s,” Latif said on his YouTube channel CatchBehind.
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“They have not got a solid opener and their middle order is not stable. They just want a new captain. No captain has played consistently for them. KL Rahul is unfit now, Rohit was unfit earlier. Virat is mentally disabled. So, they have to think about it. They are changing so many captains.. They need a leader like Sourav Ganguly, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli,” added the former Pakistan cricketer.
Opener Shikhar Dhawan will lead India in the three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe, starting August 18 in Harare, the BCCI announced on Saturday.
The 36-year-old Dhawan, who also captained India recently and guided them to a 3-0 series whitewash in the West Indies, will once again lead the side in the absence of Rohit Sharma, who was named Zimbabwe One. Rested for the day.
Apart from Rohit, most of the ODI regulars – Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya and Mohammed Shami have also been rested.
Shreyas Iyer, Surya Kumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Arsdeep Singh and Yuzvinder Chahal, who were part of the ODIs in the West Indies, have been left out. While there is no official word on selection, or non-selection, it is understood that these players are being rotated as part of the BCCI’s policy to keep the busy international calendar in mind.
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