Zim vs Ind 2022 - Chakabva continues to lead ODIs as Zimbabwe announce squad for India series

Regis Chakabva, Zimbabwe's wicketkeeper-batter, will continue to lead the side against India in the upcoming ODI series, with regular captain Craig Ervine still nursing a left hamstring injury.

Zimbabwe, who announced their 17-member squad against India on Thursday, will also be without left-arm spinner Wellington Masakadza, who is sidelined due to a shoulder tendon injury. Fast bowlers Blessing Muzarabani and Tendai Chatara, who missed the T20I and ODI series against Bangladesh with a thigh muscle tear, and collarbone fracture, respectively, continue to remain unavailable.

Chakabva, who made his Zimbabwe debut in 2008, led the side for the first time against Bangladesh in the recently-concluded ODI series, which Zimbabwe won 2-1. He also hit a match-winning 102 in the second ODI to help the hosts clinch the series. Senior allrounder Sikandar Raza, who captained the team in the third and final ODI against Bangladesh after Chakabva missed the game due to a hand sprain, was adjudged the Man of the Series for his 252 runs and five wickets.

The three-match series against India is scheduled to begin on August 18 in Harare and is a part of the ODI World Cup Super League.

Squad : Ryan Burl, Regis Chakabva (capt), Tanaka Chivanga, Bradley Evans, Luke Jongwe, Innocent Kaia, Takudzwanashe Kaitano, Clive Madande (wk), Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, John Masara, Tony Munyonga, Richard Ngarava, Victor Nyauchi, Sikandar, Raza, Milton Shumba, Donald Tiripano

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Babar Azam says Shaheen Shah Afridi will be rested for at least two ODIs against Netherlands

Pakistan captain Babar Azam has said the team is looking to manage Shaheen Shah Afridi's "long-term workload and health" as he recovers from a knee injury, with the aim of getting him ready in time for the Asia Cup.

"We're taking a couple of doctors on the way to take care of Shaheen," Babar said at a press conference before Pakistan's departure for the Netherlands. "We're looking long term at his fitness and health. We want him to play a game against Netherlands if he's fit and be ready for the Asia Cup. Our combination is quite good. In T20s the middle order responded well to challenges."

With Hasan Ali dropped from the side, that opens the door for lesser experienced fast bowlers to make their mark in the Netherlands, especially as Babar believes the conditions on offer will be similar to what England throws up, and therefore presumably suitable to fast bowlers. Haris Rauf, Shahnawaz Dahani, Naseem Shah and Mohammad Wasim are all part of the travelling contingent, and expected to be heavily involved in the three ODIs.

There will be particular interest in who Pakistan pick as their opening bowling pair, an area where, Afridi's reliable brilliance aside, Pakistan have been unsettled in the ODI format. Each of Rauf, Dahani and Wasim have taken the new ball at some point or another, and since the 2019 World Cup, so have Hasan Ali, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Amir and Usman Shinwari. Haris and Hasan, who have been tasked with this responsibility most regularly aside from Afridi, have the worst economy and strike rate with it. In Afridi's absence, that will be a weakness Babar hopes to address properly.

"Our fast-bowling bench strength is excellent," he said. "They've now got an opportunity to showcase their skills. This is how you expand your pool. I support Hasan Ali because he's a team man. Yes, he's not in form, but it's not like he has to prove anything. Domestic cricket is coming up. He'll play that and make a strong comeback hopefully.

"We have 11 trump cards. Each of them can be matchwinners on their day. I have faith in every one of them, whether batters of bowlers. I think the conditions will be similar to England. The weather will be cooler. We practiced with the air conditioning on indoors, perhaps that helps simulate the conditions! We couldn't practice much because of the rains, but we got a practice match in, which gives you a good sense of conditions."

Babar also appeared to pour cold water on murmurs of a return to the side for veteran Shoaib Malik ahead of the Asia Cup and T20 World Cup, emphasising the importance of backing young players who had been assigned to replace him.

"The team has been announced after discussions with everyone. We met with the coach and chief selector and did what was best for Pakistan. There are matches immediately after Netherlands, so it's unlikely there will be time for changes.

"When senior players leave the side, those replacing them need focus. Hafeez and Malik were huge players and we'll miss them a lot, and players like Asif Ali, Khushdil Shah and Iftikhar need to fill their boots. We want to give them plenty of matches and confidence, and these players have performed. We're also looking to utilise Shadab Khan's batting, because batting depth is very useful in T20 cricket now.

"We're not going to just rest our senior players, we'll play with a combination of senior and junior players. There are important Super League points at stake which we can't lose. I'm going to the Netherlands for the first time, too. If things go badly after we field young players, we'll cop criticism then, too. Everyone won't be happy with our decisions, but we have to do what's best for Pakistan cricket."

Babar, or indeed any of his team-mates, may want for nothing or need no introduction in Pakistan, but that is emphatically not true of other athletes in the country who happen to pursue a sport not called cricket. Babar paid rich tribute to Pakistan's most successful athletes at the Commonwealth Games, where the country came away with a gold medal each in weightlifting and javelin throwing. He called on increased support to athletes across sports, bemoaning the facilities they enjoyed as being "not good enough".

"I was very proud to see Noah Dastagir and Arshad Nadeem win gold medals. There's so much respect for how much hard work they put in. You cannot praise them enough. But you need to give them better facilities. I saw the conditions they were practicing in, and I think that was unacceptable. When you give the athletes better facilities, they'll win many more gold medals."

Danyal Rasool is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @Danny61000

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Zim vs Ind 2022 - Deepak Chahar returns for Zimbabwe ODIs, KL Rahul still unavailable

Deepak Chahar has made a comeback to the Indian team after nearly six months, during which he was being treated for a back injury, for the ODI series in Zimbabwe in August. Rahul Tripathi has received a maiden ODI call-up, while Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav have been included in the squad of 15 for the three-match series in Harare.

KL Rahul has not yet recovered sufficiently, after first undergoing a successful surgery for a sports hernia, and then suffering from a bout of Covid-19. Rahul took to his social media to say that his post-surgery recovery had put him on course for the white-ball games against West Indies, but the Covid infection has pushed his progress to full fitness back by a couple of weeks.

Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, Arshdeep Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal, who were all part of the ODIs in the West Indies, have been left out. While there has been no official word on the selections, or non-selections, it is understood that the premier players are being rotated as part of the BCCI's policy keeping in mind the packed international calendar. India are currently playing a white-ball series in the West Indies, and the Asia Cup will start on August 27 in the UAE, just five days after the last ODI in Zimbabwe.

Chahar last played at any representative level in the T20I series at home against West Indies back in February. He picked up the back injury while undergoing rehab at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru, where he was recovering from the quadricep tear he was diagnosed with during the West Indies games. He subsequently sat out the IPL, where he was Chennai Super Kings' biggest buy in the 2022 auction, as well as all the international cricket India have played since.

Kuldeep recently received the green signal from the NCA medical team after recovering from a hairline fracture in his right wrist, which had forced him out of the South Africa T20Is at home as well as the white-ball tours of Ireland and England. He is in the squad that is currently playing in the T20I series in the West Indies. Kuldeep last played in the IPL for Delhi Capitals, where he picked up 21 wickets in 14 matches.

Washington, who last played for India in the ODIs against West Indies, had recovered from a hand injury last month and, more recently, has been in action for Lancashire in the County Championship. He picked up a five-for in the first innings against Northamptonshire in his first county game, and followed it up with a match-winning knock of 34*. He has played one more match, against Kent, and took 3 for 24 in the second innings.

Tripathi had received his maiden India call-up in June for the T20Is against Ireland, but did not make the playing XI. While he has made a name for himself with his exploits in T20s, specifically in the IPL, Tripathi has a fairly good record in the 50-over format as well: in 43 List A games, he has 1209 runs at an average of 31.00. In the 2021 Vijay Hazare Trophy, he made 199 runs in five games at 49.75.

Shikhar Dhawan, who led India in the West Indies ODIs, will continue as captain for this series as well, with regular captain Rohit Sharma continuing to sit out. The likes of Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant and Mohammed Shami have also been rested.

Source https://www.globalcourant.com/zim-vs-ind-2022-deepak-chahar-returns-for-zimbabwe-odis-kl-rahul-still-unavailable/?feed_id=4614&_unique_id=62e63db3c336b