IND vs ZIM: Team India leaves for Zimbabwe tour, new head coach takes command in place of Gautam Gambhir

By Samira Vishwas On Jul 19, 2026

New Delhi: Amidst the ODI series being played between India and England, Team India’s focus is now on the Zimbabwe tour. The Indian team will play a three-match T20 series against Zimbabwe from July 23. In view of the busy international cricket schedule, BCCI has taken an important decision to balance the workload of players and support staff. For this reason the group of young players has left for Zimbabwe.

Changed strategy for workload management

The last match of the ODI series between India and England is to be played at Lord’s on 19th July. Regular head coach Gautam Gambhir is currently present in England with the senior team. In such a situation, BCCI has prepared a separate coaching arrangement for the Zimbabwe tour so that the preparations of both the teams are not affected.

VVS Laxman got big responsibility

The responsibility of acting head coach of the Indian team on the Zimbabwe tour has been handed over to former batsman and head of the Bengaluru-based Center of Excellence VVS Laxman. Even before this, Laxman has played the role of head coach with Team India on many foreign tours. His experience in grooming young players can be very useful to the team in this tour.

Some players will reach Zimbabwe directly from England

The players who are currently part of the ODI series in England and are also included in the Zimbabwe T20 team, will reach Zimbabwe directly from London after the end of the Lord’s ODI. The rest of the players have already left with VVS Laxman. In this tour, many young players will get a great opportunity to prove themselves at the international level.

𝙀𝙣 𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙕𝙞𝙢𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙬𝙚 🇿🇼#TeamIndia | #ZIMvIND pic.twitter.com/akRFqycwXC
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 18, 2026

Complete schedule of T20 series

The first T20 match between India and Zimbabwe will be played on 23 July at Harare Sports Club. The second match will be held on 25th July and the third match will be held on 26th July on the same ground. All three matches will start at 4:30 pm Indian time.

team india squad

Shreyas Iyer has been made the captain for this tour. The team includes players like Tilak Verma, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shivam Dubey, Suryansh Shedge, Rinku Singh, Harsh Dubey, Ravi Bishnoi, Prince Yadav, Yash Thakur, Ashok Sharma, Mayank Yadav and Prabhsimran Singh.

Everyone’s eyes will be on young players

Zimbabwe tour will be a great opportunity for the young players of Team India to prove themselves. Under the guidance of VVS Laxman, this team will try to strengthen its place in the future Indian team by performing well. At the same time, cricket fans will also keep an eye on how the young brigade performs in this T20 series.