India bowl in fourth T20I vs Zimbabwe; Tushar Deshpande makes his debut

Toss India opt to bowl vs Zimbabwe

Tushar Deshpande, the Mumbai and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) fast bowler, was handed a maiden international cap in India's bid to seal the five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe in Harare on Saturday. Shubman Gill called correctly for the fourth time in the series as India elected to bowl first.

Deshpande, who was presented his cap by assistant coach Sairaj Bahutule, replaced Avesh Khan in what was India's only change from the third game. His selection comes on the back of an excellent IPL, where he was CSK's highest wicket-taker - 17 wickets in 13 games at an economy of 8.83.

India made no other change to their XI that went 2-1 up in the five-match series three days ago. This means they continue to field four openers from Nos. 1-4 while also playing just four specialist bowlers, with Shivam Dube and Abhishek Sharma needing to chip in with the ball.

Gill wanted to exploit the early-morning conditions on a fresh surface. He also hoped to improve in the death overs with the ball, an area he felt they had been patchy so far in the series.

Sikandar Raza, the Zimbabwe captain, underlined the significance of leveling the series at 2-2 as he spoke of a developing a vision in the lead-up to the next T20 World Cup in 2026.

Zimbabwe made one change, with Faraz Akram, the Saudi Arabia-born allrounder, replacing Wellington Masakadza in the XI.

India: 1 Shubman Gill (capt), 2 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 3 Abhishek Sharma, 4 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 5 Sanju Samson (wk), 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Rinku Singh, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Tushar Deshpande, 11 Khaleel Ahmed

Zimbabwe: 1 Wessly Madhevere, 2 Tadiwanashe Marumani, 3 Brian Bennett, 4 Sikandar Raza (capt), 5 Dion Myers, 6 Johnathan Campbell, 7 Clive Madande (wk), 8 Faraz Akram, 9 Richard Ngarava, 10 Blessing Muzarabani, 11 Tendai Chatara