Less than three days left and the India-Zimbabwe match will begin after three days. Under the captaincy of KL Rahul, the Indian Cricket Team (Indian Cricket Team) has reached Zimbabwe and the series of three ODI matches is starting from August 18. The 6-year wait is also coming to an end with this series.
India last toured Zimbabwe 6 years ago in 2016. A lot has changed since then and in such a situation it is important to know which players are part of both these series.
Kohli-Rohit was not even 6 years ago
India last toured Zimbabwe in June 2016. Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the captain of the Indian team then and under his captaincy the Indian team went on this tour for three ODIs and three T20Is. There are definitely similarities between that tour and the current tour. At that time the key players of Team India were also rested. Apart from captain Dhoni, no senior player was involved in this tour. Players like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin were rested.
New faces like Bumrah-Chahal
Many of the players who were part of the team at that time are today the main part of the Indian team and are big names in international cricket. For example, players like Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal are the lifeblood of the team, while players like Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav have also spent a lot of time in the Indian team. But two other players were part of that journey. Both these players are now the present and future of Team India and have gone on this tour. These are – KL Rahul and Akshar Patel.
Rahul's debut, Akshar's comeback
This tour is very special for KL Rahul as he has gone from being a new face in 6 years to captaining Zimbabwe. He started his career in ODI and T20 cricket with a tour to Zimbabwe in 2016. Rahul created history by scoring a brilliant century on his ODI debut. He is the only Indian batsman ever to do so. Since then, Rahul has scored 1634 runs in 42 matches at an average of 46 with 5 centuries and 10 half-centuries.
Left spin-all-rounder Akshar Patel is yet to fully cement his place in the team but has been a consistent part of the ODI side around 2016. Prior to the Zimbabwe tour, he had played 22 ODIs, taking 28 wickets and scoring 91 runs. But after 2017 he was out of the team for almost 4 years and now he is back. Akshar has taken 47 wickets in 41 matches so far. But now he is getting better with the bat and has recently scored 266 runs including a half-century.
