Sudharsan, Jitesh, Rana added to India squad for first two T20Is against Zimbabwe-Telangana Today

Dube, Samson and Jaiswal, all part of the T20 World Cup-winning squad, were due to join the Zimbabwe squad but are stuck in Barbados due to Hurricane Beryl.

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

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

The unforeseen circumstances have forced BCCI to name replacements for the three players. Pacer Khaleel Ahmed and batter Rinku Singh, who are travelling as reserves for the T20 World Cup, are also currently in Barbados. The BCCI has not yet named replacements for the duo, even though they are in the squad for the 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 the 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.