Toss India opt to bowl vs Zimbabwe
Deshpande, who was presented his cap by assistant coach Sairaj Bahutule, replaced Avesh Khan in what was India’s only change from the fourth game. His selection comes on the back of an excellent IPL, where he was CSK’s highest wicket-taker this season – 17 wickets in 13 games at an economy of 8.83.
India made no other change to their XI that went 2-1 up in the five-match series three days back. This means they continue to field four openers from Nos. 1-4 while also playing just four specialist bowlers, with Shivam Dube and Abhishek Sharma needing to chip in with the ball.
Gill wanted to exploit the early-morning conditions on a fresh surface. He also hoped to improve in the death overs with the ball, an area he felt they had been patchy so far in the series.
Sikandar Raza, the Zimbabwe captain, underlined the significance of leveling the series at 2-2 as he spoke of a developing a vision in the lead-up to the next T20 World Cup in 2026.
India: 1 Shubman Gill (capt), 2 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 3 Abhishek Sharma, 4 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 5 Sanju Samson (wk), 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Rinku Singh, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Tushar Deshpande, 11 Khaleel Ahmed
Zimbabwe: 1 Wessly Madhevere, 2 Tadiwanashe Marumani, 3 Brian Bennett, 4 Sikandar Raza (capt), 5 Dion Myers, 6 Johnathan Campbell, 7 Clive Madande (wk), 8 Faraz Akram, 9 Richard Ngarava, 10 Blessing Muzarabani, 11 Tendai Chatara
