Gautam Gambhir, the leading candidate to succeed Rahul Dravid as the head coach of the Indian men's cricket team, is set for his first assignment in a T20I series against Zimbabwe starting July 5. India will play five matches in this format at the Harare Sports Club, less than a week after the conclusion of the T20 World Cup in the West Indies. Consequently, Gambhir is expected to oversee a new T20I squad that will likely include up to seven top performers from IPL 2024.

Gautam Gambhir's appointment could rejuvenate Shreyas Iyer's international career, especially after the Mumbai batter was removed from the BCCI's central contract list earlier this year. Additionally, several young players currently training at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru are expected to be included. Among the hopefuls are Riyan Parag, the highest run-scorer among uncapped players in IPL 2024, and Harshit Rana, who led the charts among uncapped bowlers.

"Shreyas is currently not at NCA. Here mostly those players are there, who have performed in the IPL and will be in contention for Zimbabwe selection. Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Mayank Yadav, Harshit Rana, Nitish Reddy, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Yash Dayal are all at the camp. Some will go to Zimbabwe T20Is," an unnamed BCCI source said.