Zimbabwe begin preparations for India series with two camps

[[JUGRAJ SINGH]]

As part of the preparations for the upcoming limited-overs series against India, as many as 33 Zimbabwe cricketers, in two separate camps in Bulawayo and Harare, will undergo a week-long training programme from Monday (May 30), according to a Wisden India report.

Elton Chigumbura, Hamilton Masakadza, Sean Williams, Sikandar Raza and Malcolm Waller are among the 23 cricketers who will attend the camp in Bulawayo, which will be overseen by Dave Whatmore, the head coach of Zimbabwe, along with bowling coach Makhaya Ntini and fitness trainer Sean Bell.

The cricketers, who will be part of the Bulawayo camp, will attend practice sessions on Monday, Wednesday and Friday while they will be divided into two teams for two 50-over practice games on Tuesday and Thursday, and a Twenty20 practice match on Saturday.

The 10 players part of the Harare camp will undergo routine practice sessions which will be overseen by Douglas Hondo, the Zimbabwe A coach. All 33 players will then get together on June 6 ahead of the One-Day Internationals (ODIs) against India.

An MS Dhoni-led Indian team, sans Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and R Ashwin, kick off the tour with an ODI on June 11, followed by two more 50-over games on June 13 and June 15. After the three-match ODI series, India will play three Twenty20 Internationals on June 18, June 20 and June 22. The ODIs as well as the T20Is will be played at the Harare Sports Club.

The last time Dhoni played in Zimbabwe was in 2005 when he featured in a tri-series also involving New Zealand. This will be India's second tour to Zimbabwe in as many years and the visitors will be eager to replicate the efforts of the Ajinkya Rahane-led side, which won the ODI series 3-0. Zimbabwe though managed to square the subsequent T20I series.