Dubey, Thakur, Ashok, Prabhsimran earn maiden India call-ups, Samson left out for T20Is against Zimbabwe
New Delhi, July 6
Left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey, wicketkeeper-batter Prabhsimran Singh, seamers Yash Thakur and Ashok Sharma have earned their maiden call-ups to the Indian team for the T20I series against Zimbabwe, starting on July 23.
Rinku Singh and Mayank Yadav have also made a return to India T20I set-up, which continues to be led by Shreyas Iyer. The six players come for the three-game Zimbabwe tour in place of Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Ravi Bishnoi and Sanju Samson, who are currently on the trip to England for the five-game series.
Dubey got an ODI debut against Afghanistan at Dharamshala in June, where he picked 3-47. He was in India A's 1-0 red-ball series victory in Sri Lanka, where he picked four scalps and made scores of 30 and 29.
Thakur, Dubey's team-mate from Vidarbha set-up, picked five scalps in India A winning 50-over tri-series in Sri Lanka and took as many wickets in the subsequent red-ball series.
Ashok, meanwhile, took 1-75 in the lone tri-series game he played after coming as a replacement for injured Yudhvir Singh Charak, after picking six scalps for Gujarat Titans in IPL 2026. The speedster came into limelight in the 2025/26 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where he was the top wicket-taker with 22 wickets in ten games.
On the other hand, Prabhsimran had scores of 2, 84 and 11 for India A in the 50-over tri-series win in Sri Lanka, after amassing 510 runs in 14 games for Punjab Kings in IPL 2026. After the opening game on July 23, India and Zimbabwe will play further games on July 25 and 26, with all games to be played at the Harare Sports Club. India last toured Zimbabwe in July 2024, where they won the series 4-1.
India squad: Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma (Vice-Captain), Ishan Kishan (WK), Shivam Dube, Suryansh Shedge, Rinku Singh, Harsh Dubey, Varun Chakaravarathy, Prince Yadav, Yash Thakur, Ashok Sharma, Mayank Yadav, and Prabhsimran Singh (WK).
— IANS
Reader Comments
Finally some reward for domestic performers! Yash Thakur and Ashok Sharma have been impressive in domestic circuit. This is how Indian cricket grows – by giving opportunities to those who grind in Ranji and SMAT. Good move by selectors.
Rinku Singh back in the squad – best news! 🙌 He was unfairly dropped after that one bad series. And Mayank Yadav's return adds pace firepower. But honestly, Samson should have been in this squad over some others. He's a proven match-winner in Zimbabwe conditions.
Interesting squad selection. I see they're resting key players for the England series. Good to see Shreyas Iyer leading – he's done well in this format. Prabhsimran Singh's IPL form was excellent, hope he carries that into international cricket. Happy for these newcomers!
Mixed feelings. Happy for Dubey and Thakur – both worked hard in Vidarbha setup. But why is Samson always the one sacrificed? He was in great form in IPL and has 3 T20I fifties in last 10 innings. The selectors' messaging is confusing – reward IPL performances but ignore consistent international performers? 🤔
Excited to see Prince Yadav in the squad too – great young talent from UP. The bowling attack looks promising with Dubey's left-arm spin and Ashok's pace. But please, let's not over-bowl these new guys. Need proper management. Touring Zimbabwe is a good opportunity to test bench strength. 🇮🇳✈️
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