Harare, Oct 9 — Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) on Friday retained the 15-player squad that secured the country’s landmark first-ever ICC Women’s Championship victory over the West Indies for their upcoming six-match white-ball tour of India, scheduled to begin on October 16.
Captain Josephine Nkomo will lead the unchanged side after the national selectors opted to back the group that created history by defeating West Indies Women by four wickets at the Harare Sports Club a fortnight ago.
The historic win over the Caribbean side, despite losing T20I and ODI series to them, gives Zimbabwe significant momentum ahead of a challenging tour featuring three T20Is followed by three ODIs, which form part of the ICC Women’s Championship.
The tour kicks off with the three-match T20I series to be played at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur, the capital city of Chhattisgarh, on October 16, 18, and 20, respectively.
The two teams will then travel to Gujarat for the three-match ODI leg, to be played at the Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) Stadium in Vadodara on October 23, 25, and 28, respectively. India will be captained by left-handed opener Smriti Mandhana, who will begin her full-time captaincy stint after replacing the long-serving Harmanpreet Kaur earlier this week.
Medium-pacer Nyasha Gwanzura, who registered career-best figures of 4-33 to trigger the win over the West Indies, anchors the bowling setup alongside Michelle Mavunga and Francisca Chipare.
The batting effort relies heavily on Modester Mupachikwa, Sharne Mayers, Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano, Kelis Ndhlovu, and Beloved Biza, with skipper Nkomo and Nomvelo Sibanda providing vital top-tier international experience.
“Although they lost all three matches, they showed encouraging signs and will now test their progress against one of the leading sides in the women’s game,” said Zimbabwe Cricket in its statement on Friday.
Zimbabwe squad: Josephine Nkomo (Captain), Beloved Biza, Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano, Kelis Ndhlovu, Michelle Mavunga, Francisca Chipare, Olinder Chare, Kudzai Chigora, Nyasha Gwanzura, Nomvelo Sibanda, Loryn Phiri, Chiyedza Dhururu, Modester Mupachikwa, Tendai Makusha, and Sharne Mayers