BCCI Announces 15-Member Squad for T20 Series Against Zimbabwe; Sanju Samson Excluded

New Delhi. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced a 15-member team for the T20 series to be held in Zimbabwe from July 23 to 26. Sanju Samson, who was the 'Player of the Tournament' in the T20 World Cup 2026, did not find a place in this team.

The board has not given any reason for excluding Samson. The BCCI has not said whether he has been dropped from the team or rested.

Samson had recently scored only 5, 0, and 1 run in three consecutive innings against Ireland and England. In the second T20 against England, Vaibhav Suryavanshi was given a chance to debut by keeping Samson out of the playing XI.

India's youngest international cricketer, 15-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi, has been included in the team for the third consecutive series. Vaibhav, who debuted at the age of 15 years and 99 days against England, scored 14 runs with two sixes off 10 balls in his first match.

Compared to the T20 team against England and Ireland, India has made six changes this time. Finisher Rinku Singh and fast bowler Mayank Yadav have made a comeback in the team. Mayank had played three T20 matches for India in 2024. After that, due to injury, he made a comeback playing practice matches for the T20 World Cup from India-A at the beginning of 2026.

Mayank, who played four matches for Lucknow Super Giants in IPL 2026, remained wicketless with an economy rate of 11.37. Mayank has made a comeback in the national team after two years.

India has included four new players for the first time in the T20 team for the Zimbabwe tour. The players getting a chance for the first time include wicketkeeper-batter Prabhsimran Singh, fast bowler Yash Thakur, fast bowler Ashok Sharma, and left-arm spin all-rounder Harsh Dubey.

Prabhsimran has been rewarded for his consistent good IPL performance. He scored 579 runs in 2025 and scored 510 runs in 14 matches this season. His average was 42.50 and strike rate was 168.87 during this period.

Since Ishan Kishan is also in the team, Prabhsimran might be the reserve wicketkeeper. Similarly, Harsh Dubey got a chance to debut for India in the ODI series against Afghanistan last June. In IPL 2026, he took 8 wickets in 8 matches for Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Fast bowler Yash Thakur had impressed by taking 18 wickets in 7 matches of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. His average in that tournament was 9.88 and economy was 6.80.

Another fast bowler Ashok Sharma also took 22 wickets in the same tournament. Debuting for Gujarat Titans in IPL 2026, Ashok took 6 wickets in 6 matches and also bowled the fastest ball of the season at 154.2 kilometers per hour.

Both Yash and Ashok recently participated in the Sri Lanka tour with the India-A team. Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, and Prasidh Krishna did not find a place in the team for the Zimbabwe tour.

In addition, some changes have been made to the Indian team for the ODI series against England. Shivam Dubey has been included in the team in place of the injured Nitish Kumar Reddy.

The updated Indian ODI team for the England series includes Captain Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Vice-Captain Shreyas Iyer, wicketkeepers KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Gurunur Brar, and Shivam Dubey.