Chance for Indian young guns to strike Gold- Zimbabwe vs India, ODI series preview

Chance for Indian young guns to strike Gold- Zimbabwe vs India, ODI series preview: Indians set to take on the Zimbabwe with a second string side led by Ajinkya Rahane in a 3-match ODI series, starting from Friday.

Players from both teams will be looking to make much out of the series, especially India players who will try to force into the main team with spirited performances. On the other hand, Zimbabwe would be trying to utilize inexperienced line up and pave their way to reconstruct their team after a disastrous performances from the recent World Cup.

India:

He might be captaining the 2nd string squad but Rahane himself is yet to settle in the main XI of India’s limited overs team. Ajinkya Rahane has been fixed to middle order given the success of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan at the top. But Rahane’s inability to rotate strike on pace less pitch gets exposed often. With Dhoni preferring to bat at No.4, Ambati Rayudu gets picked who could be a handy player in the final overs unlike Rahane. With both Rahane & Rayudu aiming to make the cut into the main XI, we might see some good performances from them in the series.

On other hand, Robin Uthappa and Murali Vijay will probably take the openers role. Uthappa, who can be aggressor at the top with extra ability to keep wickets will be looking to make full use of this long awaited chance. Vijay, who had a brilliant run in Test format will finally make it in the XI in ODIs. He could be a good back up option for India’s overseas tours in limited overs format. Just like Uthappa, it will be crucial series for Vijay as well.

Senior spinner Harbhajan Singh came back into ODI team after 4 years, cue for been brilliant with ball in IPL. His performances in this series might depend upon his future in national side. Coming to pacers, this is going to be a big challenge for both Bhuvneshwar and Mohit who have been ineffective in recent times. Both have failed when tracks didn’t produced early swing. Kulkarni, who bowled well against Bangladesh will like to continue same against Zimbabwe to move towards sealing his place in main squad.

Sandeep Sharma got a long awaited chance, whose consistent bowling might end India’s search for a premier pacer. Just like Sandeep, Manish Pandey finally managed to get into the squad. However he might face a tough time to make into XI ahead of Manoj Tiwary and Kedar Jadhav. This will be a crucial series for all-rounders Axar Patel and Stuart Binny as well, who have been pretty average in recent times.

Recent form: W L L L W W W W W W

Zimbabwe:

Zimbabwe would like to forget their recent performances and think about their future assignments. Despite of fighting well in the World Cup, they could end up winning only 1 game. From the first game they played against South Africa to India in CWC15, they looked to threaten to win in every game and even end up losing against Ireland.

As a result, they have dropped from top 10 in ICC ODI rankings. Even against Pakistan in recent series, they performed well with the bat but were a miserable bowling side, which has been their biggest problem in the past 6 months or so. Even though they manage to score a total near to 300 or even more, their bowling has been letting them down.

It will be a tough task for the hosts if they fail to improve their bowling attack against a strong Indian batting line up under their new captain Hamilton Masakadza.

Recent form: N/R L L L L L L W L L L

Head to head:

In past, Zimbabwe has managed to defeat India on several occasions but in recent times, it has been a dream for them. Last time they defeated Indian was during the tri-series in 2010, when they defeated Indian in both the games they played against them. However, India clean swept Zimbabwe in 2013, the last time they place a bi-lateral series. The last meeting of the two teams was during the CWC15 at Auckland, where India managed to survive with 5-wicket victory.

Series results:

India and Zimbabwe faced off in 6 ODI bi-lateral series so far with India winning 5 out of those and Zimbabwe winning a series in 1996/97 when they defeat India in 1st of the 2 ODIs and the 2nd game getting washed out.

Most runs in India-Zimbabwe ODIs:

Most wickets in India-Zimbabwe ODIs: