Shubman Gill, Abhishek to open; 3 debutants? Predicting India's likely playing XI for 1st T20I against Zimbabwe

Image Source : GUJARAT TITANS X Shubman Gill will be making his national captaincy debut as India heralds new dawn in T20Is following the seniors pulling the plug

Many might feel the lack of interest and importance of the five-match T20 series between India and Zimbabwe given it's happening right after the end of a long T20 season that had the IPL and the T20 World Cup but it may not be so if put into context. India have just won the T20 World Cup, the seniors Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja have retired from the format at the highest level and it is the first time that the whole young brigade is on its own.

If not for the three T20 World Cup squad members set to return from the third T20I onwards, it would have been a completely new squad of 15, which shows the bench strength for India in the format all thanks to Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and IPL. Shubman Gill the captain, an outcome of IPL 2024, is set to make his national captaincy debut for India with his partner-in-crime and childhood friend Abhishek Sharma opening alongside him.

Gill confirmed that he and Abhishek will open while Ruturaj Gaikwad is set to bat at No 3 in a new-looking top-order for India. Riyan Parag at 4 is likely to be the second debutant while his Rajasthan Royals teammate Dhruv Jurel is also in the mix for a T20I debut, having played three Test matches in February- March for India against England.

The lower order bears a familiar look when the seniors skipped the T20Is through the whole of 2023. Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mukesh Kumar and Avesh Khan make up the middle-lower and lower order as part of the bowling group after Rinku. Khaleel Ahmed is the new name in the line-up for the first time after 2019 as he makes his comeback to the national side on the back of smashing performances for Rajasthan in domestic cricket and Delhi Capitals in IPL.

There is an outside chance of Harshit Rana also making his T20 debut but since the likes of Avesh and Mukesh were ahead of him in the squad, the KKR pacer might have to wait for his chance.