The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced team India's 15-member squad for the upcoming five-match T20I series Zimbabwe away from home. The series is set to commence from July 6 with Shubman Gill being named the captain of the side for the first time. A host of senior players - Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav - who are also part of the T20 World Cup squad have been rested while a few top performers from the Indian Premier League (IPL) have been picked. A total of four players have been selected for the first time in the Indian team in international cricket and we have a look at them:
4 Players to get picked in the Indian team for the first time:
1. Riyan Parag
Riyan Parag has been rewarded instantly after a brilliant season in the IPL this year. He was promoted to bat at number four by Rajasthan Royals and the youngster delivered supreme consistency becoming the third highest run-scorer of the edition. He amassed 573 runs in 14 innings at a strike-rate of 149.21 with four half-centuries to his name. Parag averaged 52.09 in IPL 2024 and he also bowls off-spin as well which makes him a top pick even in the playing XI.
2. Abhishek Sharma
Abhishek Sharma was sensational opening the innings for Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2024. He literally smashed the ball from the word go in most of the matches and ended up amassing 484 runs in 16 innings at a brilliant strike rate of 204.21 with three fifties to his name. Abhishek has been picked in the Indian team for the first time and the southpaw will be keen on grabbing this opportunity if he makes it to the playing XI.
3. Tushar Deshpande
Tushar Deshpande played for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2024 and has performed in consecutive seasons now. He picked up 17 wickets earlier this year in IPL and showed massive improvement from last year in taking up responsiiblity of especially bowling at the death. Deshpande will be keen on making the most of this chance but it remains to be seen if he will get an opportunity in the playing XI.
4. Nitish Kumar Reddy
One of the most deserving players from this lot seems to be Nitish Kumar Reddy. The all-rounder did superbly for SRH in IPL 2024 batting at number four most of the times and scored 303 runs in 11 innings at a strike rate of 142.92 with two fifties to his name. Reddy also bowled in seven innings and picked up three wickets while clocking 140 kph multiple times.
4. Nitish Kumar Reddy
