Predicting India's playing XI for Zimbabwe ODIs

India will play a three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe, starting from the 18th of August and it will go on until the 22nd of August. The Men in Blue recently whitewashed West Indies in the three-match series under the leadership of Shikhar Dhawan and the southpaw will again lead in the absence of Rohit Sharma.

Rahul Tripathi has earned his maiden call-up for the ODI series while big names like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant and Jaspirt Bumrah have all been rested. Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav and Deepak Chahar have been recalled into the side after a while and they will have a point to prove.

This will be a good chance for the youngsters to make a mark in the international setup as we look into India’s predicted XI for Zimbabwe ODIs.

1. Shikhar Dhawan (C)

Shikhar Dhawan will lead once again in the ODI series against Zimbabwe in the absence of Rohit Sharma. The left-hander was spot on with his captaincy skills during the series against West Indies and helped India whitewash the host nation. The same result would be expected in the upcoming series against Zimbabwe, considering India’s dominance in limited overs format in recent times.

With scores of 97, 13 and 58 in the three outings against West Indies, Dhawan has been in really good form and the veteran batter has always been consistent when it comes to the 50-over format. The 36-year-old has an average of above 45 in ODIs in 155 games since his debut in 2010 which are excellent numbers.

Dhawan is the most experienced player in the lineup and he will fancy his chances of scoring a century. He has been unlucky to miss out on the T20I setup for India with a number of youngsters coming up. However, he is unlikely to let go of his position in the 50-over format.