Former Indian batter Subramaniam Badrinath picked his Team India playing 11 for the opening T20I against Zimbabwe at Harare on Thursday, July 23 (via his Instagram handle). In a squad full of youngsters and newcomers, along with a handful from India’s 2026 T20 World Cup-winning squad, Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Abhishek Sharma slotted in at the top.
Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer and Tilak Varma were the obvious middle-order choices from No.3 to 5. Badrinath went with medium-pace-bowling all-rounders, Shivam Dube and Suryansh Shedge, at No.6 and 7.
The former right-hander picked two spinners, Harsh Dubey and Ravi Bishnoi, followed by the two specialist pacers, Prince Yadav and Mayank Yadav, to round off his playing 11.
Prabhsimran Singh, Rinku Singh, Yash Thakur and Ashok Sharma were left out of Badrinath’s playing 11 from the overall squad for the Zimbabwe series.
Subramaniam Badrinath’s Team India playing 11 for the 1st T20I vs Zimbabwe
Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Suryansh Shedge, Harsh Dubey, Ravi Bishnoi, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav
Team India look to break their dismal losing streak in T20Is
Team India have struggled in T20Is since their dominant title run in the 2026 World Cup at home. The Men in Blue have lost all six of their completed T20Is since, marking a dismal start to new captain Shreyas Iyer’s tenure.
India suffered an embarrassing 0-2 series whitewash to Ireland, followed by a 0-4 drubbing at the hands of England in the five-match T20I series. It was the first time India lost back-to-back T20I series since early 2019.
However, the Men in Blue can take solace in the fact that their last T20I meeting against Zimbabwe ended in a convincing win in the 2026 T20 World Cup. After posting a massive 256/4 in 20 overs, the Indian bowlers restricted Zimbabwe to 184/6 in their 20 overs, helping India pull off a 72-run victory.
India have never lost a bilateral T20I series to Zimbabwe and hold an excellent head-to-head record of 11-3 in 14 meetings. They have also beaten the African nation in their last five T20I matchups.
Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran