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New Delhi: CaptainShreyas Iyer will be aiming for his first T20I series win as India face Zimbabwe in the three-match series, beginning on July 23. Iyer has lost the first six out of his seven T20I games as captain in series defeats against Ireland and England.

The Men in Blue are likely favourites to win the series, but a defeat could further unsettle the dressing room, which also features a 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. VVS Laxman will be India’s head coach for the series in the absence of regular coachGautam Gambhir.

The focus will again be on 15-year-old young opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who is likely to open along with Abhishek Sharma as Sanju Samson is not part of the squad. Both openers have fond memories of Harare Sports Club, with the Punjab opener making his T20 debut and then smashing his first ton at the same venue in his second match.

Meanwhile, Sooryavanshi played a match-winning knock in the U19 World Cup final against England to help India win the title. The afternoon games at the Harare Sports Club’s pitches can cause some problems for the Indian batters. Blessing Muzarabani and Richard Ngarava have the ability to test Indian batters with bounce and pace.

India: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Harsh Dubey, Suryansh Shedge, Yash Thakur, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Ashok Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Prabhsimran Singh, Rinku Singh.

Zimbabwe: Sikandar Raza (captain), Brian Bennett, Ryan Burl, Tanaka Chivanga, Ben Curran, Brad Evans, Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Blessing Muzarabani, Dion Myers, Richard Ngarava, Newman Nyamhuri, Milton Shumba, Tafadzwa Tsiga.

The first T20I match between India and Zimbabwe will start at 4:30 PM IST on Thursday, July 23. The live telecast of the match will be available on the Unite8 Sports TV channels in India. Fans can live stream the match on the FanCode app and the website.