(Cricket news) India are all set to take on Zimbabwe in the 1st of 3 ODIs at the Harare Sports Club. India have rested quite a few players as the Asia Cup will be starting at the end of the month. KL Rahul will be leading the side with Shikhar Dhawan as his deputy. A lot of players will be making a return to the squad including Deepak Chahar who has finally recovered from his injury. Washington Sundar who was originally in the squad suffered an injury while playing County cricket. Shahbaz Ahmed was named as a replacement earning him a maiden international call-up. Zimbabwe are coming into the series after winning the ODI and T20I series against Bangladesh. India will definitely be preparing for a tough battle against a solid looking Zimbabwe side. 

India's possible playing XI:

Shikhar Dhawan, Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Deepak Hooda, Sanju Samson, Axar Patel, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.

Bench: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rahul Tripathi, Deepak Chahar, Avesh Khan

It will be very difficult for the management to decide on the batting order because there are a lot of openers in the squad. Deepak Chahar and Avesh Khan are definitely low in the pecking order but they are the only bowlers who will be a part of the Asia Cup which is why the management may want to give them match time. Axar Patel has just been left out of the Asia Cup squad and he will be looking to prove his worth in this series as will Ishan Kishan.

Zimbabwe's possible playing XI:

Regis Chakabva, Tarisai Musakandal, Innocent Kaia, Wessly Madhevere, Sikandar Raza, Luke Jongwe, Milton Shumba, Ryan Burl, Victor Nyauchi, Richard Ngarava, Wellington Masakadza 

Bench: Tanaka Chivanga, Bradley Evans, Kaitano Takudzwanashe, Clive Madande, Tadiwanashe Marumani, John Masara, Tony Munyonga, Donald Tiripano

Raza and Kaia are two of the most important players who will definitely be thorn in the Indian side. Zimbabwe have a well balanced squad which has been playing well for a while now as they have also qualified for the T20 World Cup group stages. They will be looking to take advantage of the home conditions. The major goal for Zimbabwe will be to make things difficult for India and put them under pressure.

Also read: If youngsters reach out to me, I am there to answer their queries: Dhawan