India took a 2-1 lead in the ongoing five-match T20 series against Zimbabwe in the third game with an all-round performance led by skipper Shubman Gill and Ruturaj Gaikwad with the bat and Washington Sundar with the ball. There were few changes in the XI with the T20 World Cup winners returning but still the balance of the side didn't suffer and the young Indian brigade will be keen to seal the series in the fourth T20I on Saturday, July 13.
Since it's the start of the young side's full-fledged journey in T20Is, the team management has rotated the players through the series in three matches so far and it might be the same case in the remaining games as well. India went in with four openers in the third T20I which meant that two of them played out of positions. While Gaikwad has impressed whether playing at No 3 or No 4, India might want to play its young openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Abhishek Sharma at the top of the order which means that captain Gill will have to bat one down, but will he take that call?
Since only openers have acquired the top order, that meant that the likes of Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube also went down the order. The latter didn't even get to bat with Rinku Singh going in to bat at six with just a couple of overs remaining. India might have wanted to play Riyan Parag in place of one of the openers but it seems like if Riyan has to be given opportunities for India to develop batters who can bowl a bit, only Dube's rest looks like a viable option.
Similarly in the bowling department, Avesh Khan, who has played all the games so far might make way for Mukesh Kumar, who was rested in the second game as the bowlers too are being rotated.
India's predicted playing XI for 4th T20I against Zimbabwe: Shubman Gill (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhishek Sharma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube/Riyan Parag, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan/Mukesh Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed
