Kaitano returned for the second ODI against India and looked happy to bide his time against the new ball before fiddling at one outside off to be out for 7 off 32 balls. Chakabva, who has opened in 24 of his 53 ODI innings, batted at No. 6 in the first match and No. 4 in the second to bolster the middle order. But now with the experienced Sean Williams also back in the side, Zimbabwe could try reuniting him with Kaitano to solve their top-order woes.
In both ODIs, India opted to bowl after winning the toss to exploit seam-friendly conditions. But now having sealed the three-match series, they may want to put their batters to the test if they win the toss once again. KL Rahul, who is playing his first series since IPL 2022, could also do with some time in the middle ahead of the Asia Cup, which starts next week.
Zimbabwe LLLWW (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
India WWWWW
Zimbabwe (probable): 1 Takudzwanashe Kaitano, 2 Innocent Kaia, 3 Regis Chakabva (capt & wk), 4 Wessly Madhevere/Tony Munyonga, 5 Sikandar Raza, 6 Sean Williams, 7 Ryan Burl, 8 Luke Jongwe, 9 Brad Evans, 10 Victor Nyauchi, 11 Tanaka Chivanga
India (probable): 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Shikhar Dhawan/Ruturaj Gaikwad, 3 Ishan Kishan, 4 KL Rahul (capt), 5 Deepak Hooda, 6 Sanju Samson (wk), 7 Axar Patel/Shahbaz Ahmed, 8 Shardul Thakur/Deepak Chahar, 9 Mohammed Siraj, 10 Prasidh Krishna/Avesh Khan, 11 Kuldeep Yadav
Another cool morning is in store in Harare. So, expect the seamers to get assistance early on with the new ball.
“My aim is to go for wickets when the new ball is swinging. And then to bowl in consistent areas, string in the dots and bowl maidens when it is not.”
Mohammed Siraj spells out his bowling mantra for ODI cricket