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Shreyas Iyer, Ruturaj Gaikwad & Washington Sundar Meet Zimbabwe U19 Stars

image-lpwb68iuTeam India players interacted with emerging Zimbabwean players (Twitter)

Shreyas Iyer headed the Indian playing group to interact and spend time over dinner with Zimbabwe's emerging young talents in South Africa on Thursday (December 7). 

The experienced middle-order batter and his teammates Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tilak Varma and Washington Sundar were clicked with Zimbabwe U-19 players and shared invaluable cricketing advice. 

The interaction was made possible in Durban as India geared up for the start of their senior international tour against South Africa with the opening game of the three-match T20I series on Sunday (December 10), while the Zimbabwe U-19s continue their build-up towards the 2024 U-19 World Cup in the rainbow nation. 

The four Indian players showcased terrific spirit and attitude in being open to sharing dinner time with the Zimbabwean players. They gave them priceless advice on how to go about their business on the field as they prepare earnestly for the youth World Cup. 

All four players - Iyer, Gaikwad, Sundar and Varma - are part of India's fresh-looking T20I squad set to take part in the tour's opening assignment before the caravan moves to 3 ODIs and 2 Test matches at the height of the Proteas summer. 

Indian Players Clicked With Zimbabwe U-19s 

The quartet is integral to stand-in skipper Suryakumar Yadav-led squad, which just defeated the Australians 4-1 in a home series to continue their preparations towards the 2024 T20 World Cup scheduled next June in the Caribbean & USA. 

The series attains critical weightage for all four of them since Gaikwad and Iyer strive to consolidate their spots in the top order while Varma and Washington hope for more opportunities to press home their case in the middle-order and the allrounder's slot, respectively. 

Of the four, Iyer and Gaikwad are also part of the ODIs and Test match outfits. At the same time, Gaikwad is one of the backups in an in-transition middle-order that approaches the trip to the rainbow nation without stalwarts Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. Iyer eyes success in South Africa as their replacement to end all the naysaying and doubts on his short-ball capabilities and bolster his position at No.5 after making a much-awaited comeback from a back injury.