CHENNAI: It’s been less than 48 hours since Indian fans brought Mumbai to a standstill. The thousands of fans, who packed the streets of Marine Drive, in the stands at Wankhede, celebrating the T20 World Cup-winning men’s team, are probably still hungover from the euphoria they experienced. But, cricket, as they say, is a giant wheel that never stops.
Barely two days after the Indian contingent landed in the country with the ICC trophy, another men’s team will be in action and that too, in the same format. This time, against Zimbabwe in Harare. This is nothing new at this point. After the 2022 T20 World Cup triumph, the England men stayed back in Australia for an inconsequential ODI series, which they lost 3-0. And that England team included nine members from the title-winning squad.
In Harare, however, none of the WC squad members will take the field, at least not in the first game. Some of them are expected to join the squad in Zimbabwe, but by and large, it is a second-string team led by Shubman Gill. But there is more. With Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja bidding adieu to the format, there are quite a few spots that are up for grabs. Several youngsters, who had been proving themselves consistently while desperately waiting for an opportunity, will finally get a chance to make an impression.
Among them are two men who have batted through age-group cricket for Punjab — Gill and Abhishek Sharma. While the former has established himself in the other two formats, this is his chance in the shortest one. And joining him would be one of his best friends from childhood Abhishek, who took the 2024 IPL season by storm with Sunrisers Hyderabad. They are not alone. Ruturaj Gaikwad, the likely No 3 on Saturday, and Yashasvi Jaiswal, who will miss the game because he was in Mumbai, are also in contention.
