Team India won the T20 World Cup after a gap of 17 years on Saturday (June 29) beating South Africa in a thrilling final by seven runs. But the team is now stuck in Barbados with Hurricane Beryl making landfall in the wee hours of Monday (July 1) in the Caribbean islands. The Hurricane has grew in ‘extremely dangerous’ Category 4 with its winds reaching 209 km per hour causing massive damage in the islands.
Notably, the men in blue are scheduled to tour Zimbabwe for five T20Is starting from July 6 and five members from the contingent that is in the Caribbean are stranded at the moment. Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson and Shivam Dube were part of the World Cup squad while Rinku Singh and Khaleel Ahmed were among the reserves for the mega event.
With less than five days to go for the Zimbabwe series to get underway, it remains unclear whether these five cricketers will be able to reach the southern african country for the opening game that is to be played in Harare on July 6. The selectors have named the 15-member squad for the tour and without these players, it will be tough for India to even field a proper playing XI.
For the unversed, Shubman Gill has been named captain for the series while the likes of Hardik Pandya, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah among others part of T20 World Cup winning squad have been rested. Gill and Avesh were also among the reserves but were sent home after the USA leg of the World Cup with enough resources available with the team.
The airport in Barbados has been shut until further notice and for now, there is no update on when will team India players return home. As per the schedule, the selected squad is expected to reach Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport in Zimbabwe on Tuesday (July 2). The aforementioned five players, as of now, seem unlikely to reach Zimbabwe on time and it remains to be seen if the selectors name any possible replacements for them if the Hurricane Beryl doesn’t subside in time.
India’s 15-member squad for Zimbabwe T20Is: Shubman Gill (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhishek Sharma, Rinku Singh, Sanju Samson (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Shivam Dube, Riyan Parag, Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh khan,Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, Tushar Deshpande.
