Harare [Zimbabwe]: India’s right-arm seamer Tushar Deshpande expressed his feelings ahead of making his debut in the shortest format of the game in the fourth match of the five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club on Saturday.
Deshpande replaced right-arm fast bowler Avesh Khan in the line-up.
The Men in Blue are currently leading the five-match T20I series 2-1, with the fifth and last match to be played on Sunday at the same venue.
‘Very happy to be here. It all goes back to my childhood days, when I dreamt of playing for my country. Being here wearing the blue feels very proud. It means a lot to me. The atmosphere is really great here. Playing for CSK in the IPL helped me. That experience will surely help me in the internationals. I started as a batsman, so that comes naturally to me, looking to refine it and I have been working on it. Overall, the atmosphere in the team is chill,” Deshpande said in the pre-match press conference.
Coming to the match, the visitors skipper, Shubman Gill, won the toss and elected to bowl first.
India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill (c), Abhishek Sharma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson (wk), Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Tushar Deshpande, Khaleel Ahmed.
Zimbabwe (Playing XI): Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Brian Bennett, Dion Myers, Sikandar Raza (c), Johnathan Campbell, Faraz Akram, Clive Madande (wk), Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani, Tendai Chatara.