India opt to bowl against Zimbabwe in 1st T20I; pacer Ashok Sharma debuts in Harare

India captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to field against Zimbabwe in the first T20I in Harare. Pacer Ashok Sharma makes his international debut as India look to recover from recent series losses in England and Ireland

Harare: India have handed a debut to pacer Ashok Sharma as skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to bowl first against Zimbabwe in the first T20I at the Harare Sports Club on Thursday.

India, the current T20 World Cup winners, are eyeing redemption after suffering series defeats to England (4-0) and Ireland (2-0). After winning the toss, Iyer said India are fielding three seamers in Ashok, Prince Yadav and Mayank Yadav, along with leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi being the lone spin-bowling option.

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“This is my first time here, so I don’t know how the wicket is going to play. But looking at the practice wickets and the practice wickets on the side, there was a decent amount of bounce. So definitely, that’s one of the aspects. I don’t know how it’s going to play, but I’m anticipating it (more bounce).

“They (Zimbabwe) have been playing brilliantly for the last couple of years, especially at the World Cup, the way they played. It was pleasing to the eye. The batsmen and the bowlers executing their strengths. It was amazing,” he said.

Zimbabwe arrive on the back of losing the T20I series to Bangladesh 2-1, though they won the Test and ODI series. Captain Sikandar Raza said Ben Curran and Newman Nyamhuri are making their T20I debuts. “This is not your typical Harare Sports Club wicket, I think. There will be something in the start, but I don’t expect it to last too long. I think there are a lot of runs on this wicket and hopefully we can put up those runs on the board.

“A lot of positives, to be honest (against Bangladesh). As I said, in the pressure as well, even though the results didn’t go our way, there were a lot of positives, especially the way the bowling unit has been holding themselves as well.

“Also in Bulawayo, on a slightly slower surface, I thought our top three batters did contribute the bulk of the runs as well. So hopefully the lower order and the middle order can contribute, can try and put up those runs and the bowling unit keep leading the way they are leading. And I’m pretty sure it will be a very good game after that,” he said.

Playing XIs

India: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer (captain), Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Prince Yadav, Ashok Sharma, and Mayank Yadav

Zimbabwe: Brian Bennett, Tadiwanashe Marumani (wk), Ben Curran, Dion Myers, Sikandar Raza (captain), Ryan Burl, Wessly Madhevere, Brad Evans, Newman Nyamhuri, Richard Ngarava, and Blessing Muzarabani