22-year-old Riyan Parag earned his maiden T20I callup on the back of a successful Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season with the bat. Parag with other team members of the new-look T20I side left for Zimbabwe on July 2 from Mumbai. In a video posted by the BCCI, Parag said that he was so excited that he forgot his passport and phone which he found later.
"From my childhood, I had dreamed of travelling like this. We play cricket a lot but other things which come with, like travelling with the team and wearing the Indian team clothes."
"So excited that I forgotten my passport, my phone. I have not forgotten but I misplaced them. I have it now. It's a new team. Almost a very new team. A lot of new faces in the Indian squad but a lot of old faces as well as I have played with them a lot," said the Assam-born batting all-rounder.
India’s T20 World Cup 2024-winning skipper Rohit Sharma has admitted that he often forgets things. Rohit’s teammates have talked about it as well on various talk shows.
Parag also said that he will have a special connection with Zimbabwe.
"A young boy from Assam was always dreaming about this. Now it has finally come true. A lot of happiness is there. And Zimbabwe will have a special connection. Whenever I play my first match, it will be a special moment for that ground and myself, which will be very secret," he added.
The five-match T20I series will begin on July 6. All the matches will be played at Harare Sports Club. The T20I series will conclude on July 14.
Later changes to T20I squad for first two games
On July 2, there were changes made to India's T20I squad for the first two games. Harshit Rana, Sai Sudharsan and Jitesh Sharma were called up to replace Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube and Yashasvi Jaiswal who were part of the T20 World Cup 2024 squad.
India's squad for 1st & 2nd T20I 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.
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