Empire Building Diagnostics

While the euphoria of India's T20 World Cup triumph still lingers, the focus will soon shift to the five-match T20I series in Zimbabwe, which begins on July 6. With Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja all retired from T20Is, there are at least three spots up for grabs as India begin their preparation to defend their title at home in 2026. Here are some of the things to watch out for in the T20Is in Zimbabwe.

Yashasvi Jaiswal, who is currently part of the post-T20 World Cup revelry with Rohit and Co, will not be available for the first two games in Zimbabwe. In his absence, Abhishek Sharma could potentially make his international debut for India and open the batting along with captain Shubman Gill, who was among the reserves for the T20 World Cup. Ruturaj Gaikwad and B Sai Sudharsan are the other top-order options for India, but it will be particularly hard to ignore Abhishek, considering his hyper-aggressive batting approach in IPL 2024 and ability to pitch in with his mix of left-arm fingerspin and backspinning carrom balls.

Along with Travis Head, Abhishek almost redefined T20 batting during IPL 2024. He can also clear the boundaries repeatedly, even outside the powerplay and against spin, which makes him particularly dangerous. After clattering 39 sixes in the Syed Mustaq Ali Trophy, second only to Riyan Parag's 40, Abhishek went on to top the sixes charts in IPL 2024.

Gill, who had an up-and-down IPL 2024 both as batter and captain at Gujarat Titans, will look to recapture the glory days of 2023. This will also be his first stint as India's senior-team captain, having led India A, Punjab, and GT before this.

When the T20 World Cup squad was announced, Rinku Singh lost out to Shivam Dube, whom India backed as a super-specialised spin disruptor. Rinku is poised to return to the middle order in Zimbabwe - with or without Dube. Rinku's T20I efficiency is something to marvel at: 356 runs in 11 innings across four countries (Ireland, China, India and South Africa) at an average of 89 and strike rate of 176.23.

Rinku, though, only had a peripheral role in Kolkata Knight Riders' run to the IPL title, with their openers Sunil Narine and Phil Salt doing the heavy lifting for them. Rinku faced just 113 balls in 11 innings, scoring 168 runs at an average of 18.66 and strike rate of 148.67. Having not played a single competitive game since the IPL final on May 26, can he hit the ground running in Zimbabwe?

With Sanju Samson in India with India's T20 World Cup-winning side, Dhruv Jurel is set to get the first crack at the keeping gloves in Zimbabwe, though Jitesh Sharma was belatedly added to the squad.

Jurel blew hot and cold with the bat in IPL 2024, but that can happen to any middle-order batter in T20 cricket. It's one of the toughest roles in the format, and though Jurel has played only two seasons of the IPL, he has shown that he has the shots and temperament to ace this role. In his debut IPL innings, he nervelessly scooped Arshdeep Singh, no less, to the boundary on his way go an unbeaten 15-ball 32, and in his most recent IPL innings on a Chepauk turner, he countered Sunrisers Hyderabad's spinners with a variety of sweeps and reverse-sweeps. Even the part-time spinners were getting the ball to rag as the conditions changed dramatically between innings, but Jurel rose above the conditions in a knockout match with an unbeaten 56 off 35 balls.

Once Samson links up with the side in Zimbabwe, there might still be room for India to play two wicketkeepers, especially if they prefer batting depth ahead of an extra bowling option.

In the run-up to the 2024 T20 World Cup, Ravi Bishnoi became the No.1-ranked T20I bowler in the world and even bowled a sensational second Super Over against Afghanistan in Bengaluru. But after a difficult IPL 2024, in which he managed 10 wickets in 14 games at an economy rate of 8.77, he missed the cut for the World Cup, with the more experienced Yuzvendra Chahal getting picked as the second wristspinner behind Kuldeep Yadav.

With Bishnoi being more of a googly specialist than a legbreak bowler, batters have often tended to play him like an offspinner. He is also a dart-it in spinner though he did slow it down in that double-Super-Over finish in Bengaluru. Chahal will be nearly 35 by the time the next T20 World Cup comes around, so this is a chance for the 23-year-old Bishnoi to reinvent himself as a wristspinner and re-establish himself in the T20I team.

As for Washington Sundar, he is coming into this series on the back of what was perhaps his worst T20 season. Under his captaincy, Tamil Nadu failed to make it out of the first round in the 2023-24 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Later, in the IPL, Nitish Kumar Reddy displaced him as SRH's premier allrounder. Despite being fit, Washington played just two matches in IPL 2024 and ended up leaking 73 runs in five overs for just one wicket. However, with Jadeja retiring from T20Is, Washington could get more opportunities to prove himself as a spin-bowling allrounder in the format.