Ravi Bishnoi replaces injured Varun Chakaravarthy in India squad for Zimbabwe T20I

In India's squad for the three T20Is in Zimbabwe later this month, Ravi Bishnoi has taken the place of the injured Varun Chakravarthy. Bishnoi was not in the original team, but he has been added now that it has been determined that Varun will need more time to recover from a hamstring injury that kept him out of the last two Twenty20 Internationals in England. While Harshit Rana is out of the series with a hamstring injury, Prince Yadav, who had previously only been in the T20I squad in England, will return for the ODI portion of the tour. With the 50-over World Cup just over a year away, the selectors want Jasprit Bumrah to play regularly in ODIs, so his return will boost India's pace stocks for the series. The remaining frontline seamers in the ODI squad are Prince, Prasidh Krishna, Gurnoor Brar, and Arshdeep Singh. Bishnoi appeared in England for India's first two T20I matches. The legspinner bowled in the second game at Old Trafford and went for 60 runs in his four overs. He also sent down three back-foot no-balls in that game, and he conceded two sixes and a four off the resultant free-hits. India did not get to bowl in the first T20I because it was washed out after they had batted. A BCCI release describing Rana and Varun's injuries stated, "Rana reported a sudden onset of discomfort in his right hamstring during the third T20I against England at Trent Bridge." "A hamstring injury of grade 1 was discovered by subsequent scans. He will report to the BCCI Centre of Excellence (COE) for additional evaluation and management because he has been ruled out of the forthcoming ODI series against England. "During the third Twenty20 International against England, Chakravarthy also reported a sudden onset of discomfort in his left hamstring. After that, an MRI scan revealed a hamstring injury of grade 2. He has been ruled out of the upcoming T20I series against Zimbabwe based on expert medical advice. For additional management, he will report to the BCCI COE." Incidentally, it was an injury to the hamstring that had forced Rana to miss the T20 World Cup - he was replaced by Mohammed Siraj in India's 15-member squad - as well as IPL 2026. Before the most recent setback, he returned to action during the T20Is in Ireland and the first two T20Is in England. The hamstring injury is another blow to Varun, who has struggled for form lately - he managed just one wicket in the two T20Is in England, while going at 10.28 per over. He played through pain and missed the T20Is against Afghanistan and Ireland while in rehab after breaking his left toe at the end of IPL 2026. It is anticipated that India's squad for the Zimbabwe T20Is will arrive in Harare on July 20. To give Gautam Gambhir and his staff a break after the ODI series in England, the CoE's head coach VVS Laxman will take over as head coach, along with assistant coaches Sunil Joshi and Hrishikesh Kanitkar. Following the series defeats in Ireland and England, the board will likely conduct a review that will include Gambhir, the top brass of the BCCI, and T20I captain Shreyas Iyer. India's first defeat to Ireland, first six-match losing streak in T20Is, and first multi-match bilateral T20I series defeat to England were among the unwelcome highlights of the two tours.