Team India leave for Zimbabwe ahead of ODI series

NEW DELHI: The India men's cricket team, led by opener KL Rahul, left for Zimbabwe on Saturday morning ahead of the three-match ODI series, starting from August 18, followed by two more matches on August 20 and 22 at the Harare Sports Club.

The social media accounts of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) showed pictures of Prasidh Krishna, Deepak Chahar, Shikhar Dhawan, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Siraj, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rahul Tripathi in the flight.

NCA head VVS Laxman was also spotted, suggesting that he could be the head coach for the ODI series against Zimbabwe.

When the Indian team was in England for the rescheduled fifth Test in Edgbaston, Laxman was with the T20I squad as the head coach in Ireland and was present for the first T20I at Southampton as well.

India enter the series after defeating West Indies 3-0 in Trinidad in July. Zimbabwe, on the other hand, are on a high after an impressive 2-1 series win over Bangladesh at home, coming after another 2-1 series win over them in T20Is.

The series is part of the ICC World Cup Super League and massively important for Zimbabwe in order to finish in the top eight of the table. If that happens, Zimbabwe will be eligible for direct qualification to the ODI World Cup in India next year. India have automatically qualified for the mega event by virtue of being the hosts. IANS

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