Sai Sudharsan, Jitesh Sharma and Harshit Rana have been drafted into India’s 15-member squad for the first two T20Is of the five-match series in Zimbabwe, beginning on Saturday.
They will replace Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube and Yashasvi Jaiswal, all of whom will return to India with the rest of the T20 World Cup-winning squad before flying out to Zimbabwe.
The victorious T20 World Cup squad was expected to land in India on Monday, but their arrival has been delayed because of Hurricane Beryl, which led to the airport in Barbados being shut down. The trio are expected to land in New Delhi on Wednesday evening and will be part of a felicitation ceremony before travelling to Zimbabwe.
Rinku Singh and Khaleel Ahmed, who were part of the reserves for the World Cup, are likely to join the squad in Harare directly from the
Caribbean.
Rana was part of the victorious Kolkata Knight Riders at IPL 2024. The pacer had been at the BCCI’s National Cricket Academy as part of a conditioning camp for emerging fast bowlers. He was the joint-second-highest wicket-taker for KKR (19 wickets at an average of 20.15) with Andre Russell.
Sai Sudharsan, who made his international debut on the tour of South Africa last December, is currently playing for Surrey in Division 1 of the County Championship and will join the squad in Harare on July 4 after the conclusion of Surrey’s ongoing fixture against Essex.
Like Rana, this is Sai Sudharsan’s first call-up to the India T20I side.
