Shreyas Iyer confident ahead of Zimbabwe T20Is, targets first win

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Speaking before Thursday’s T20I series opener against Zimbabwe, Indian captain Shreyas Iyer voiced optimism regarding the squad’s form, highlighting that the players are intent on quickly adapting to the away conditions and securing wins.

Calling the tour a thrilling prospect, the skipper underlined the importance of staying level-headed in the moment and taking on every challenge that comes their way.

The newly appointed T20I skipper experienced a tough opening tour under his captaincy tenure, with India falling 2-0 to Ireland before enduring a 4-0 defeat in England, where one fixture was rained out.

Iyer will be targeting his first victory as India’s T20I leader when the team takes on Zimbabwe on Thursday in Harare.

“Definitely, it is going to be a thrilling series. Looking forward to playing an exciting game over here. We definitely want to be on the winning side. So let’s get used to the practice session, the weather, the conditions as quickly as possible and see to it that we get the best results. I’m excited to be here. It’s a great opportunity. I see it as an amazing opportunity. Can’t be thinking beyond, but I want to stay in the present and embrace each and every moment as much as possible,” Iyer said in a video posted by BCCI.

Most of the attention will be on teenage prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi on his second tour in Indian colours. The Harare ground carries good memories for the 15-year-old, who made waves internationally by smashing a whirlwind 175 off 80 deliveries against England in the Under-19 World Cup final back in January.

Similarly, his opening partner Abhishek Sharma has fond associations with the venue, having notched his first T20I hundred at the same stadium in 2024.

India will hope to turn around their poor white-ball form as the T20 World champions were winless in seven games on the UK tour with 2 losses against Ireland and 4 against England.

India Squad for Zimbabwe T20Is:

Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma (Vice-Captain), Ishan Kishan (WK), Shivam Dube, Suryansh Shedge, Rinku Singh, Harsh Dubey, Prince Yadav, Yash Thakur, Ashok Sharma, Mayank Yadav, Prabhsimran Singh (WK), Ravi Bishnoi.

(With inputs from ANI)

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