Sudharsan, Jitesh and Rana added to India’s squad for first two T20Is vs Zimbabwe

Dube, Samson and Jaiswal, all part of the T20 World Cup-winning squad, were slated to join the Zimbabwe-bound group but are stranded in Barbados due to hurricane Beryl.

New Delhi: The trio of Sai Sudharsan, Jitesh Sharma and Harshit Rana was on Tuesday named as replacements for Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube and Yashasvi Jaiswal in the Indian squad for the first two matches of the T20I series against Zimbabwe.

India will play five T20 Internationals in Zimbabwe from July 6. Dube, Samson and Jaiswal, all part of the T20 World Cup-winning squad, were slated to join the Zimbabwe-bound group but are stranded in Barbados due to hurricane Beryl. The trio is set to fly back home, along with the other players, aboard a charter flight on Tuesday evening and arrive in India on Wednesday at 7.45pm (IST). The players will later be felicitated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi here.

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The unforseen circumstances has forced BCCI to name replacements for the three players. Pacer Khaleel Ahmed and batter Rinku Singh, travelling reserves for the T20 World Cup, are also currently in Barbados. The BCCI has not named replacements for the duo even though they are in the squad for Zimbabwe series. Sudharsan is currently playing county cricket for Surrey at the Oval in London. He is expected to leave for Harare immediately.

India’s updated squad for first two T20Is against Zimbabwe: Shubman Gill (captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhishek Sharma, Rinku Singh, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, Tushar Deshpande, Sai Sudharsan, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Harshit Rana.