Right ahead of the all-important Asia Cup, Zimbabwe and India are gearing up for the three-match ODI series which is scheduled to be played from August 18 to August 22.
Beaming with confidence, India are coming into the series riding on the ODI series sweep against West Indies. This will be India's first-ever tour of Zimbabwe since 2016, when they had travelled to the African nation for a three-match T20I series.
Still, Zimbabwe star batter Innocent Kaia is boasting his side's chances of sealing the series as a bold prediction.
The Men in Blue have played against Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe 13 times since their maiden tour in 1992. While India remain unbeaten since 2001, the minnow Zimbabwe could only win two of those series across formats, losing six times while two ended in a draw.
Team India's victory includes three consecutive ODI series sweep in 2013, 2015 and 2016, two T20I series win and one in Tests.
Quashing the evident weak contest in the last 21 years, Innocent, confidently predicted a 2-1 ODI series win for Zimbabwe.
“2-1 in favour of Zimbabwe. We win the series. As for personal expectations, I want to be the leading run scorer and score hundreds. Simple plan. I just want to score runs to be the leading run scorer in the series. That’s my goal,” he told Times Now.
Zimbabwe are heading into the series on the back of an identical margin of 2-1 series win against Bangladesh in T20Is and ODIs. However, it has been their first major win at home since their 2-1 win against Ireland in an ODI contest back in 2015/16.
"It’s not about the ticking of things, but it’s just the mindset. When David (Houghton, head coach) came in, he always just told us and taught us that we have to play positive cricket and that’s what we are doing. We are not afraid to play our shots anymore; it’s just that things have changed and it’s not something that is really big," he added.
India's squad: Shikhar Dhawan (C), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Deepak Chahar.
Zimbabwe's squad: Ryan Burl, Regis Chakabva (captain), Tanaka Chivanga, Bradley Evans, Luke Jongwe, Innocent Kaia, Takudzwanashe Kaitano, Clive Madande, Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, John Masara, Tony Munyonga, Richard Ngarava, Victor Nyauchi, Sikandar Raza, Milton Shumba, Donald Tiripano.
