Sai Sudharsan, Jitesh Sharma, and Harshit Rana have been announced as replacements for Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube and Yashasvi Jaiswal in the squad for the initial two T20Is against Zimbabwe, announced the Board of Control for Cricket in India on Tuesday.

Initially set to join the team bound for Zimbabwe for the upcoming five-match T20I series starting on Saturday, these three players will first travel with the rest of the ICC T20 World Cup-winning Indian squad to India before departing for Harare.

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The Indian cricket team's journey back home had been considerably postponed due to Hurricane Beryl’s expected arrival in Barbados, leading authorities to suspend air travel. As a result, the players have also been confined to their hotels.

Also read: India tour of Zimbabwe: Shubman Gill to lead visitors for five-match T20 series

The series also marked the debut senior national call-up for promising Indian Premier League talents Abhishek Sharma, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, and Tushar Deshpande.

All-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, originally part of the squad, was sidelined due to injury, prompting the BCCI to name Dube as his replacement.

All matches of the series are scheduled to take place at the Harare Sports Club in Harare.

India’s squad for first two T20Is against Zimbabwe: Shubman Gill (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhishek Sharma, Rinku Singh, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Riyan Parag, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar, Tushar Deshpande, Sai Sudharsan, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Harshit Rana