Hanuma Vihari expressed his shock upon seeing a couple of fast bowlers in India's squad for the three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe later this month. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a 15-man squad for the upcoming tour on Monday, July 6. One of the notable absentees has been Sanju Samson, who has been reportedly rested. However, many believe that he has been dropped from the side and replaced by a much younger wicketkeeper-batter in Prabhsimran Singh.
Vihari, however,
was surprised to see fast bowlers Mayank Yadav and Yash Thakur in the line-up. While Mayank has played three T20Is, the last of them being two years ago, Thakur received his maiden call-up. Vihari highlighted Mayank's struggles with injuries and dip in pace as well as Thakur's disappointing campaign this year in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
"Mayank Yadav has been brought in. He is injury-prone and did not even play many matches in the IPL. The matches he played, he did not perform well, but he has come in. He is not bowling those 150s anymore either. Yash Thakur also did not perform in the IPL and did not even feature in the playing 11 in many games but is selected in the Indian team, again a shocking inclusion," Vihari said on his YouTube channel.
The 24-year-old Mayank played just four games in IPL 2026 and failed to pick up a wicket. He conceded runs at an economy rate of 11.38. On the other hand, Thakur played just one match this IPL season in the cash-rich league and gave away 55 runs in four overs, despite picking up two wickets.
Apart from these two, there is also the fast-bowling duo of Prince Yadav and Ashok Sharma in the side. Shivam Dube and Suryansh Shedge are the seam-bowling all-rounders.
The first T20I is scheduled to be played at the Harare Sports Club in Harare on July 23, four days after the third ODI between India and England.
