New Delhi, June 24 (IANS): Abhishek Sharma, Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Reddy, Riyan Parag, and Tushar Deshpande have earned maiden call-up to the Indian team, to be led by Shubman Gill, for the five-match T20I tour of Zimbabwe, to be played from July 6-14 at the Harare Sports Club. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson, currently with India’s squad for the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup, also found themselves in the squad for the Zimbabwe tour, so did travelling reserves Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, and Avesh Khan.

Representing Andhra in domestic cricket, Nitish Reddy emerged as a breakout star for Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2024, where he impressed with his big-hitting ability. He amassed 303 runs in 13 innings, including two fifties at an average of 33.67 and a strike rate of 143 for the SRH, who became IPL 2024 runners-up.

He also picked three wickets with his seam-bowling, as Reddy took home the award for Best Emerging Player for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season. IANS had reported on June 19 that Nitish was in consideration for the Zimbabwe tour squad.

Since 2010, India’s tours of Zimbabwe have seen many youngsters being picked for them to be tested and eased into the international level. For next month’s tour, the same procedure is set to be followed, as India aim to build a team for the 2026 Men’s T20 World Cup, which they will be jointly hosting alongside Sri Lanka.

India’s tour of Zimbabwe will take place after the completion of the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup, which is ending with the final at Kensington Oval in Barbados on June 29. This will be the fourth time Zimbabwe will host India in a bilateral men’s T20I series, having previously faced off in 2010, 2015, and 2016 respectively.

India’s squad for T20I series against Zimbabwe: Shubman Gill (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhishek Sharma, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Nitish Reddy, Riyan Parag, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, Tushar Deshpande.