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India tour of Zimbabwe 2015: Ajinkya Rahane, Harbhajan Singh and other Indian cricketers to watch out for

Ajinkya Rahane will be leading a bunch of youngsters who will be eager to perform in Zimbabwe.

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India will travel to Zimbabwe under new captain Ajinkya Rahane © Getty Images and © AFP
India will travel to Zimbabwe under new captain Ajinkya Rahane © Getty Images and © AFP

India will be traveling to Zimbabwe with a strong second-string side. The side will be filled with players who are itching to comeback in the main team and Nikhil Popat picks out five players who will have all the eyeballs attracted to them in the series.

India will embark on the tour of Zimbabwe after suffering a 2-1 drubbing from Bangladesh. The loss might not have hurt them as much as the manner of the loss must have. Indians looked a bit over-confident in the first game and were too timid in the next one. They may have been tired and hence have been given the rest after a grueling schedule of over a year. The Indian selectors have chosen what can be called a perfect squad for the tour of Zimbabwe with good mix of youngsters and experienced players who will be itching to perform. It helps at times to have players who are motivated for success on such tours since it ensures that the opposition is not taking lightly at any point of time. Read: India select a perfect squad for tour of Zimbabwe

As India play the three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and two Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) the following five players will be the centre of attention.

Ajinkya Rahane: There were doubts over his one-day cricket career when he was dropped for Ambati Rayudu during the Bangladesh series but all of those have been put to rest now after he was named the captain of the team heading to Zimbabwe. He now has a chance to resurrect his numbers and start afresh in ODIs. It will be interesting to see where he opts to bat, given the success he has had opening the batting for his Indian Premier League (IPL) team, Rajasthan Royals.  He bats at No. 4 in the Indian team and for him to have a longer stint in the national team, he needs to put in a strong performance. Read: India tour of Zimbabwe 2015: Will the Ajinkya Rahane gamble work?

Murali Vijay: Murali Vijay’s stature has grown much after his successful run at the top of the order in whites. He was India’s best batsman overseas; in England and Australia to be precise. He did not have a good time playing for Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) but now has a chance to open for India in blues. He will want to cash in on this chance and given his run of form, one expects a lot of runs from him. Vijay doing well will also be good since it would make Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma wake up to the competition. With Rahane and Robin Uthappa staring at the opener’s slot it becomes a good issue to posses if all of them are scoring runs. Read: Murali Vijay rapidly turning into India’s most dependable batsman

Robin Uthappa: Uthappa has been on the fringes of the Indian team for some time now and his success in Ranji Trophy and for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) has earned him another shot at a place in the national team. It is most likely that he will open with Vijay. The new ball will test him and with the new rules, it will help Uthappa as he has built his game around accumulation more than power now. One feels, this could be his last chance with so many good batsmen waiting in the wings.

Harbhajan Singh: Harbhajan Singh has been recalled to the national ODI team after a gap of four long years. He will be keen to make an impression being a senior and an experienced campaigner. With the absence of Ravichandran Ashwin, it remains to be seen how well the off-spinner bowls since he usually likes bowling with another spinner at the other end, who can maintain the pressure. He might have to do all by himself as he tries to start a second phase of his international cricket career after having a good couple of IPL seasons for his team, Mumbai Indians (MI). Read: Why India should not persist with Harbhajan Singh

Sandeep Sharma: Sandeep Sharma has had a couple of great seasons for KXIP and his new ball spells have often been very crucial. With India’s perennial issue of not taking enough wickets at the top comes back to fore, Rahane will look up to him to provide India with early breakthroughs to set the game up for the rest. He will have Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Dhawal Kulkarni to accompany him and with the MS Dhoni,  the first choice captain wanting bowlers who can control the swing and not give more runs, Sandeep stands a good chance of making it to the first eleven of the side he if comes up with a stellar performance against Zimbabwe.

(Nikhil Popat is a diehard cricket enthusiast and a PotterHead till the end of time. He can be followed on Twitter @CricCrazyNIKS)

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