Shahbaz Ahmed receives maiden Team India call-up for series against Zimbabwe

Shahbaz Ahmed has received his maiden international call-up as Team India announced his name for the Indian squad that will be facing Zimbabwe in a three-match ODI series, all set to start from Thursday. The announcement came after Washington Sundar was ruled out of the series following an injury.

Shahbaz stitched together a handful of important displays for the Royal Challengers Bangalore that propelled RCB across the finish line in clutch situations where the team seemingly was in jeopardy.

He had a productive season in the 2022 IPL where he smashed 219 runs from 16 games at an average of 27.38 and a fine strike rate of 120.99. Even though his bowling figures were as good as his batting ones in the latest edition of the tournament, his Ranji exploits and the kind of reliability that the southpaw showed under the pump were a treat for the RCB and Bengal fans.

He racked up 482 runs from 5 matches at an average of 60.25 in the Ranji Trophy. However, it wasn't just his bat that did the talking for Bengal but he also claimed 20 wickets in the tournament making him a strong contender for this call-up.

India will be engaged in a battle with Zimbabwe where the teams will be playing 3 ODIs starting from the 18th of August under the leadership of the returning KL Rahul. This will be an important platform for the Indians to prove their mettle as they will be a part of the Asia Cup in the following days with a tournament opener against Pakistan.