Zimbabwe start preparation camp for India series

The Zimbabwe team started preparations for their home series against India that kicks off on June 11. Two-week long preparation camps have been organised for 33 players.

The camps are divided into separate batches in the two major cities Bulawayo and Harare. As per the Wisden India report, the training camps will commence on May 30. The big players like Elton Chigumbura, Hamilton Masakadza, Malcolm Waller, Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza are among the list of 23 players who will attend the camp organized at Bulawayo. The head coach of the team Dave Whatmore, bowling coach Makhaya Ntini and fitness coach Sean Bell will be in charge of the Bulawayo camp.

They will then attend practice sessions on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. They will play two 50 over practice matches after being divided into two teams on Tuesday and Thursday, before playing a T20 practice match on Saturday.

The remaining 10 players will attend the camp in Harare under the guidance of the Zimbabwe A coach, Douglas Hondo. All the 33 players are then scheduled to meet on June 6 before they take on the Indian team on June 11 in the first ODI at Harare.

The Indian team was recently announced for the tour and the squad lacked all big names, with just MS Dhoni being the senior player on the tour. Dhoni will lead the Indian team that has given an opportunity to youngsters to showcase their talent on the tour. They will play 3 ODIs on June 11, June 13 and June 15 before playing 3 T20 internationals on June 18, June 20 and June 22.

Also, read – Virat Kohli believes he has similar approach as David Warner

All the matches are scheduled to be played at the Harare Sports Club ground in Harare. Last year, India had won the ODI series under the leadership of Ajinkya Rahane with a margin of 3-0 and had levelled the T20 series 1-1. The last time MS Dhoni toured Zimbabwe was way back in 2005 when India participated in the tri-series that involved New Zealand along with the hosts.