India tour of Zimbabwe 2016

A chance for India's fringe players to make a mark as they take on Zimbabwe in their own backyard for two limited-overs series, starting 11th June - 22nd June 2016. 

India are all set to tour Zimbabwe this month for a 3-match ODI series as well as a 3-match T20 series. The Harare Sports Club will be hosting all the fixtures and the tour will last over a period of 12 days. India's tour will begin with the ODI series and the first match will be played on June 11. The shorter format will start from June 18 with the final T20 scheduled on June 22. India's last tour of Zimbabwe came in July 2015, when the hosts were clean swept by the visitors 3-0 in the ODI series and the T20 series was levelled 1-1. This is going to be the fourth time in six years when team India will be visiting the African nation.

Let’s take a look at the key players and the complete squad of the host team followed by the visiting team:

Zimbabwe

Leg-spinner Graeme Cremer will be in charge of this Zimbabwean side in place of Hamilton Masakadza while South African speedster Makhaya Ntini has replaced Dav Whatmore as their interim coach. There are a few players in this squad that India will be wary of. Hamilton Masakadza is one of them. The former skipper is currently Zimbabwe's best limited-overs batsman and he has done well against India in the past. Sikandar Raza and Sean Williams are two other batsmen that can trouble the Indian bowlers. With the ball, it will be the newly appointed captain - Graeme Cremer, who is the best spinner in the side. The lean and lanky fast bowler Tendai Chatara is also expected to be effective with his outswingers in these Zimbabwean conditions.

Zimbabwe ODI Squad:

Graeme Cremer (c), Tendai Chatara, Elton Chigumbura, Chamu Chibhabha, Tendai Chisoro, Craig Ervine, Timycen Maruma, Neville Madziva, Hamilton Masakadza, Wellington Masakadza, Tawanda Mupariwa, Peter Moor, Richmond Mutumbami (wk), Taurai Muzarabani, Sikandar Raza, Vusi Sibanda, Donald Tiripano and Sean Williams.

Zimbabwe T20 Squad:

Graeme Cremer (c), Tendai Chatara, Tendai Chisoro, Neville Madziva, Hamilton Masakadza, Richmond Mutumbami (wk), Vusi Sibanda, Malcolm Waller, Brian Chari, Elton Chigumbura, Luke Jongwe, Timycen Maruma, Wellington Masakadza, Taurai Muzarabani, Donald Tiripano and Sean Williams.

India

MS Dhoni will be leading a pack of relatively-inexperienced players who been picked based on their good performances in the IPL. A lot of big names like Rohit Sharma, Rahane, Kohli, Ashwin, Jadeja and many more have been rested for the West Indies tour next month. Meanwhile, Sanjay Bangar has been appointed as India's coach for this tour. KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Karun Nair, MS Dhoni and Ambati Rayudu will be the batsmen to watch out for. India's bowling will rely on the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Axar Patel, Barinder Sran and Jaydev Unadkat. India have the kept the same squad for both the ODI and T20 series.

India ODI and T20 Squad:

MS Dhoni (c/wk), Yuzvendra Chahal, Faiz Fazal, Dhawal Kulkarni, Karun Nair, Axar Patel, Ambati Rayudu, Jaydev Unadkat, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishi Dhawan, Kedar Jadhav, Mandeep Singh, Manish Pandey, Lokesh Rahul, Barinder Sran and Jayant Yadav.