Zimbabwe Seek Upset Young India

Harare: Zimbabwe begin a five-match one-day series against India on Wednesday accepting that victory in even one of the games would represent a good result against the top-ranked side in the world.

India may have rested regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, leading spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and seamers trio Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, but Zimbabwe's new coach Andy Waller expects their replacements to prove equally threatening.

Zimbabwe go into Wednesday's game at Harare Sports Club with their most settled batting line-up in many years, having been boosted by Sean Williams' performances in the middle order during their series victory over Bangladesh.

Williams has overcome a minor injury that kept him out of a three-day match against Australia A last week, which a Zimbabwe Select XI lost by 80 runs.

India's last visit to Zimbabwe was in 2010 for a tri-series that included Sri Lanka, when they failed to make the final after losing twice to the hosts.

While India's squad for this series may be short on experience, they will not lack for motivation having gained the opportunity to press for more regular inclusion in the future.

Seamer Jaydev Unadkat and batsmen Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane have been brought in, along with uncapped players Parvez Rasool and Mohit Sharma.

Even the more senior players will have something to prove, with Virat Kohli hoping to showcase his captaincy credentials as he leads the side in Dhoni's absence.

Teams from

Zimbabwe: Brendan Taylor (captain & wk), Tendai Chatara, Elton Chigumbura, Michael Chinouya, Graeme Cremer, Kyle Jarvis, Timycen Maruma, Hamilton Masakadza, Natsai M'shangwe, Tinotenda Mutombodzi, Ray Price, Vusi Sibanda, Sikandar Raza, Prosper Utseya, Brian Vitori, Malcolm Waller and Sean Williams

India: Virat Kohli (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami, Parvez Rasool, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Mohit Sharma, Rohit Sharma, Jaydev Unadkat and Vinay Kumar

Pitch and conditions
Winters in Zimbabwe are cold and dry and usually the pitches reflect this, favouring spin over seam and playing a little on the slow side. New ball bowlers may well profit in the first hour, with the games due to start somewhat early at 9am, but the wicket should have the pace to allow for shot-making.

Stats and trivia

• Despite some notable successes, such as at the 1999 World Cup, Zimbabwe have only beaten India in 10 out of the 51 ODIs they've played against them since 1983.
• Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma, who average 57.72 in partnership and have put together three century stands.
• Of Zimbabwe's current batsmen, captain Brendan Taylor has by far the best record against India in ODIs, with 184 runs at 46 against them in four games.

Match facts
Wednesday July 24, 2013
Start time 09:00 local (07:00 GMT, 12:30 IST)