India is travelling to Zimbabwe to play three ODIs from Thursday. Meanwhile, injury has ruled out Washington Sundar, while Shahbaz Ahmed has replaced him, as the latter earns his maiden India call-up.
All-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed received his maiden India call-up on Tuesday. He has replaced an injured Washington Sundar for the upcoming three-match One-Day International (ODI) series in Zimbabwe starting from Thursday. The 27-year-old Shahbaz has been rewarded for his star performance in the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL), playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). The Bengal left-arm spinner scored 219 runs in 11 innings at an average of 27.38 and a strike rate of 120.99, while with the ball, he bagged four wickets from 14 at an economy of 9.60, thus impressing the selectors.
Shahbaz has collected 662 runs in 21 List-A innings at 47.28 and 92.45. It includes twin half-centuries and a ton each, with a top score of 107. With the ball, he has scalped 24 in 26 in the format at 4.43, with best figures of 3/35. "The All-India Senior Selection Committee named Shahbaz Ahmed as the replacement for Washington Sundar for the three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe," the BCCI said in a statement.
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Washington injured his shoulder while playing a County Championship 2022 game in England for Lancashire, thus ruling him out of the Zimbabwe tour. All the matches will be played at the Harare Sports Club on August 18, 20 and 22. Below is the updated Indian squad for the Zimbabwe ODIs:
KL Rahul (c), Shikhar Dhawan (vc), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Ishan Kishan (wk), Sanju Samson (wk), Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Deepak Chahar and Shahbaz Ahmed.
(With inputs from PTI)