The euphoria over India’s T20 World Cup triumph still lingers but the focus has shifted to the T20I series in Zimbabwe where the first steps to forming the new squad will be initiated.

The first match of the five-match series will be held in Harare on Saturday.

With Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja deciding to quit the shortest format, there will be at least three spots up for grabs as they begin preparations to defend their title at home in 2026.

Shubman Gill, the captain of the new-look side, has confirmed that he will open the inning with Abhishek Sharma with Ruturaj Gaikwad coming in at No.3.

“Abhishek Sharma will open with me and Ruturaj Gaikwad will bat at No.3,” Gill, who was a part of the travelling reserves in India’s T20 World Cup squad, told reporters on Friday.

Abhishek, who had a fantastic IPL, scoring 484 runs in 16 matches at a strike-rate of 204.22, will make his T20I debut.

Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel are also in line to make their debuts. Only five members — Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Khaleel Ahmed, and Sanju Samson — were named in the squad for the Zimbabwe series.

Dube, Jaiswal, and Samson will not be available for the first two matches. They have been replaced by Jitesh Sharma, Sai Sudharshan, and Harshit Rana.

The series will also mark Gill’s T20I captaincy debut. He said his experience of leading Gujarat Titans in IPL 2024, will come in handy. “A lot of lessons. When I was captain for the first time for my IPL team, I got to know a lot more things about myself and a lot more things about the leadership perspective. And I felt most of the challenges that you face as a captain are more mental,” he said.

Gill said the young players would like to make the most of the international exposure.

“It’s quite a different team from the one that played in the World Cup. There are a lot of young players in the team, including myself. So I think in terms of that, we just want to give the players experience... Our aim for the series is to give them more international exposure and experience.”

Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza feels this series will be evenly contested. “When you play cricket, there’s always a chance.

“One thing is that when you go out to bat, you start on zero. Similarly, of course, the experience counts, but you still go out on zero,” Raza told The Telegraph during an interaction facilitated through Sony Sports Network.

“So both teams will go out with a chance to win. So anybody who plays a better brand of cricket on a particular day will win. And which means Zimbabwe has an equal chance,” he said.

Raza said playing in the IPL has helped him mentally. “Mindset, that is a big thing. ...It’s not just the lessons we learn in franchise cricket, it’s also the mindset we have when we play the game. It’s extremely important.

“So to judge this young group of guys with the senior guys will be slightly unfair. But on ability, they’re not too far off.

“Hopefully, when these guys start doing well in international cricket and the world starts to notice them, they will just keep getting better and better.”