Why Is Riyan Parag Not Playing Today's India vs Zimbabwe 3rd T20I? Check India Playing XI

In the latest development, the Indian team have not included middle-order batsman Riyan Parag in their playing XI for the third T20I match against Zimbabwe being hosted at the Harare Sports Club in Harare. The Men in Blue made a phenomenal comeback as they defeated hosts Zimbabwe in the second T20I encounter by a big margin of 100 runs to level the five-match T20I series with a 1-1 scoreline. Earlier, the Sikandar Raza-led Zimbabwe side registered a superb 13-run victory over India in the opening T20I match. 

IND vs ZIM: Why is Riyan Parag Not Playing Today's India vs Zimbabwe 3rd T20I?

After winning the toss and opting to bat first, Indian captain Shubman Gill revealed that Riyan Parag is not part of the side in this 3rd T20I game against Zimbabwe on Wednesday. Interestingly, the right-handed batsman did not had the best of performance on his T20I debut for India against Zimbabwe in the first encounter at the very same venue as he got dismissed after scoring only 2 runs off 3 deliveries by pace bowler Tendai Chatara. He did not got the chance to bat in the recently concluded second T20I match on Sunday. Earlier, Riyan got his maiden call-up into the Indian T20I team for this Zimbabwe tour on the back of a stunning Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) season where he smashed an impressive tally of 573 runs from 15 games at a brilliant strike-rate of close to 150 that included as many as four half-centuries. 

The visiting Indian team have made a total of four changes to their playing 11 from the previous T20I match. The likes of Khaleel Ahmed, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shivam Dube and Sanju Samson have replaced Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Mukesh Kumar and Sai Sudharsan. 

"We'll bat first. Hopefully the moisture will help us. We've got the WC back, Sanju, Jaiswal and Shivam are in. So is Khaleel, Mukesh rests for this one. We feel we have a balanced side," said India captain Shubman Gill during the toss. 

India Playing XI

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill(c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson(w), Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Khaleel Ahmed. 

Shubman Gill(c), Abhishek Sharma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson, Riyan Parag, Rinku Singh, Dhruv Jurel(w), Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Khaleel Ahmed, Tushar Deshpande, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shivam Dube