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India’s goal in the fourth Twenty20 International between them and Zimbabwe in Harare will be to win the series. After losing the first game of the series, they’ve won two games quite easily, but certain questions still need to be answered. The largest concerns their selection calls for the third Twenty20 International, which caused some controversy.
With Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Yashasvi Jaiswal, India essentially played four openers on Wednesday. Washington Sundar was well down at No. 8, and Sanju Samson came in at No. 5. As a result, India was forced to rely on Shivam Dube and Abhishek to cover for the fifth bowler, which didn’t work out well as the pair let up 50 runs in four overs.
India eventually managed to defend 182, but they may want to prevent allowing Zimbabwe to run from 39 for 5 after seven overs to 159 for 6 after twenty. They might try to acquire one of the top four players in order to bolster their bowling resources.
Zimbabwe will be anxious to strengthen their defence, which has been shoddy in the past two matches. In the second T20I, they dropped four catches, and in the third, three. Sikandar Raza, the captain, was also irritated by several missed opportunities and poor fielding plays. Once more, it’s the fielding. After the final Twenty20 International, he stated, “We are really proud of our fielding, but sadly, the wheels have come off in the last two games.”
Their batting order has also not performed very well in any of the games. The fact that Clive Madande, Brian Bennett, and Jonathan Campbell—all members of this T20I squad—have received their first-ever call-ups for the special Test match against Ireland later this month should provide even more incentive.
Zimbabwe has lost their last two games, but they are not expected to change much. Due to a split webbing, innocent Kaia was unable to play in the third Twenty20 International and may take Tadiwanashe Marumani’s spot at the top of the order. As of right now, Antum Naqvi’s availability is unknown.
Gill stated that India intended to rotate their fast bowlers at the third Twenty20 International toss. If they carry on with that ruse, Mukesh might replace Khaleel Ahmed or Avesh Khan, who has participated in all three games.