India will lock horns with With Zimbabwe in the the 50-over cricket as the two teams are set to meet each other in the opener of three-match ODI series on Thursday, August 18 at the Harare Sports Club. The match has a scheduled start time of 12:45 PM IST (Indian Standard Time). After winning both ODI and T20 series, the Men in Blue would look to continue their winning streak here against Zimbabwe also. This Zimbabwe tour will be the practice session for the upcoming Asia Cup 2022 where India will start their campaign against Pakistan on August 28. While Indian team are flying high at the moment, Zimbabwe would also aim to edge the visitors in the longest format of white-ball cricket just like they did to Bangladesh. It would be a real test for the hosts as they would be up against an young Indian side whose stand-in captain KL Rahul would be hungry to score some runs after recovering from injury and Covid-19 infection. India vs Zimbabwe 1st ODI 2022 Preview: Likely Playing XIs, Key Battles, Head to Head and Other Things You Need to Know About IND vs ZIM Cricket Match in Harare

All the eyes will be on Rahul as he has been named India's captain instead of Shikhar Dhawan who recently led India to victory in both one-day and T20I series against West Indies. Big guns like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Mohammed Shami and Rishabh Pant have been rested. Shubman Gill, Shikhar Dhawan, Rahul and Deepak Hooda would certainly try to prove to be much more than a handful for Zimbabwe. Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Deepak Chahar and Kuldeep Yadav would be leading the Indian bowling attack against the hosts.
For the hosts, they would definitely look to strike India with the help of Sikandar Raza, Chakabva, and Innocent Kaia before the visitors meet Pakistan in the Asia Cup 2022.
Harare  Weather Report:

Harare Weather Report (Courtesy: ACU Weather)

The weather forecast during the first ODI game between India and Zimbabwe is favourable as it would stay sunny all the time during the match. There is no forecast for rain tomorrow from 12 PM to 8 PM local time. The temperature would be around 25-28 degree Celsius in Harare.

Harare Sports Club Pitch Report:

The pitch would be a perfect one for the batters to score plenty of runs. Teams would try to bat first after winning the toss as it would be easy for the teams to put up a massive total on the board after batting first. Batters would find it easy to take all types of shots as it can be expected that ball would not move much. The team chasing down the total might find it difficult to chase down the target as humidity could play a big role in the death overs during second innings.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 17, 2022 05:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).