Dave Houghton hopes Zimbabwe can pose a strong challenge to India

Zimbabwe have been terrific in last few months

Zimbabwe head coach Dave Houghton is expecting the team to continue their strong performance and challenge the Indian team in their next bilateral series. 

India will be facing Zimbabwe in a three-match ODI series from 18 to 22 August at Harare Sports Club. It will be the first tour to the African nation for Men in Blue after 2016, wherein they registered a clean sweep in the 50-over series. 

Recently, Zimbabwe secured a T20I and ODI series victory against Bangladesh, despite the absence of their key players. Furthermore, they qualified for the T20 World Cup 2022 as well. 

Houghton, who replaced Lalchand Rajput in June as the Zimbabwe head coach has helped trigger a major turnaround for the team. 

"I told the boys in the dressing room that India coming here is a good opportunity for us to really score and get good results against one of the best sides in the world," said Houghton. 

"I told them that, I want us to believe that we aren’t here just to add up to the numbers and watch India play really good cricket, but we are here to challenge. I am hoping in these three games, we can challenge India really hard."

Are Regis Chakabva and co. really ready to challenge India?

Raza (L) and Chakabva (R)

The 34-year-old Regis Chakabva retained ODI captaincy for the series against India, due to regular captain Craig Ervine struggling with injury. Furthermore, senior players like Blessing Muzarabani and Tendai Chatara will be missing the series as well. 

However, Chakabva finally got back to form in his latest outing, wherein he hit a sensational century. Moreover, Sikandar Raza was the best all-round performer, while the likes of Ryan Burl and Luke Jongwe were impressive as well in the Bangladesh series. 

Youngster Innocent Kaia has produced credible performances for the team in crunch moments. All in all, it has been a good build-up for the hosts ahead of the series against India. 

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