India won the T20 World Cup in fine style in March but things have not gone smoothly for the world champions since that triumph.
They lost 2-0 to Ireland and 4-0 to England in June and July and will be determined to get back to winning ways in Thursday's first T20I against Zimbabwe in Harare.
The hosts suffered a 2-1 series defeat at home to Bangladesh this month and their T20 World Cup campaign included a 72-run loss to India in Chennai.
Zimbabwe v India First T20I Tips Summary
Best Bet - Abhishek Sharma to be top India batter @ 3/1
Alternative Bet - Ryan Burl over 22.5 performance points @ 5/6
Bet Builder - India to hit most sixes, Prince Yadav 1+ wicket & Richard Ngarava to be top Zimbabwe bowler @ 5/1
Zimbabwe v India First T20I Prediction
Best Bet: Abhishek Sharma to be top India batter @ 3/1
Abhishek Sharma gave India a flying start in February's T20 World Cup clash with Zimbabwe, scoring 55 from 30 balls in Chennai.
The opener was dismissed for a duck on his T20I debut against Zimbabwe in July 2024 but he did not take long to bounce back from that disappointment.
Abhishek scored 100 from 47 balls in the second game of that series in Harare and should be backed to top-score for India at the same venue on Thursday.
He has established himself as one of the world's best T20I openers in the past two years.
No player has a better batting strike-rate in T20Is than Abhishek's 190.35 and he had his best IPL season in 2026, racking up 563 runs in 15 innings for Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Alternative Bet: Ryan Burl over 22.5 performance points @ 5/6
Ryan Burl showcased his all-round quality during Zimbabwe's shock T20 World Cup victory over Australia in February.
Batting at number three in Colombo, Burl scored 35 before taking a wicket and a catch to finish with 65 performance points.
It was a similar story in Zimbabwe's following World Cup game against Sri Lanka as Burl smashed 23 off 12 balls, took a catch and claimed the key wicket of Kusal Mendis.
His leg-spin may be less of a threat at home but he should be backed to amass 23 or more performance points against India.
Burl hit five sixes from 15 balls against Afghanistan in his last T20I in Harare and had performance-point tallies of 30, 29 and 17 in this month's series against Bangladesh.
Zimbabwe v India First T20I Bet Builder
- India to hit most sixes
- Prince Yadav 1+ wicket
- Richard Ngarava to be top Zimbabwe bowler
Pays 5/1
Zimbabwe's big hitters struggled against Bangladesh so India to hit the most sixes looks a good bet. They have great batting depth with IPL stars Shivam Dube and Rinku Singh lurking in the middle-order.
Prince Yadav impressed during his first full IPL season for Lucknow Super Giants and the paceman took 3-22 against Ireland and 2-30 against England in his first two T20Is.
Zimbabwe fast bowler Richard Ngarava tormented Bangladesh's batters this month, claiming 14 wickets in five white-ball games, and he could trouble India in Harare.
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Key Match Stats
- Zimbabwe hit only 12 sixes in three T20Is against Bangladesh this month
- Sikandar Raza conceded only 55 runs in 12 overs for Zimbabwe in last year's T20I series against Afghanistan in Harare
- Richard Ngarava has taken 14 wickets in his last six T20Is
- India lost all six completed T20Is on their tour of Ireland and England
- Abhishek Sharma has hit 13 sixes in his five T20I innings against Zimbabwe
- India conceded 17 sixes in their last T20I against England at the Rose Bowl
Tactics, Form & Team News
Zimbabwe have dropped Clive Madande, Tinotenda Maposa and Tashinga Musekiwa from the squad who lost 2-1 to Bangladesh this month.
Fast bowler Newman Nyamhuri (thigh) is fit again and the hosts have called up all-rounder Wessly Madhevere and uncapped wicketkeeper Tafadzwa Tsiga.
Predicted lineup: 1 Brian Bennett, 2 Tadiwanashe Marumani (wk), 3 Dion Myers, 4 Sikandar Raza (c), 5 Ryan Burl, 6 Wessly Madhevere, 7 Brad Evans, 8 Milton Shumba, Tanaka Chivanga, 9 Richard Ngarava, 10 Blessing Muzarabani, 11 Newman Nyamhuri.
India have rested opening batter Sanju Samson and fast bowlers Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh for this series.
Spinner Ravi Bishnoi has replaced Varun Chakaravarthy, who suffered a hamstring injury on the tour of England, and wicketkeeper-batter Prabhsimran Singh is hoping for an opportunity.
Predicted lineup: 1 Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Ishan Kishan (wk), 4 Shreyas Iyer (c), 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Rinku Singh, 8 Harsh Dubey, 9 Prince Yadav, 10 Ashok Sharma, 11 Mayank Yadav.
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
