A 'happy' Rahul Tripathi boards Team India flight for tour of Zimbabwe - check all PICS

Team India departed for the tour of Zimbabwe late on Friday (August 12) night. BCCI posted some pictures from the departure as a happy looking Rahul Tripathi was spotted and so did deepak Chahar who is making a return to international cricket after almost an year. Tripathi was earlier a part of India squad for Ireland T20s but his name did not feature in the squads for England and Windies series. He is yet to play for India. The BCCI selectors have now given him another go against Zimbabwe, where he is expected to make his India debut. India play 3 ODIs vs Zimbabwe on August 18, 20 and 22. All matches will take place in Harare.

Tripathi is repeaing dividends for his good show with the bat in IPL 2022. He has been a solid IPL player over the years as he has scored 1798 runs in 76 games at a strike rate of 140.8. Indian fans and some former players have demanded his inclusion in the side after his remarkable effort in IPL 2022. 

Check out Team India's pics from their departure for Zimbabwe below. 

Zimbabwe __ bound! __#TeamIndia | #ZIMvIND pic.twitter.com/GKsofzEvRe— BCCI (@BCCI) August 12, 2022

pic.twitter.com/eetYl6lCcZ

— BCCI (@BCCI) August 12, 2022

Chahar's return is a positive sign for India as well. The right-arm pacer has not been named in the Asia Cup 2022 squad as selectors do not want rush him into the playing XI. The Zimbabwe series would be a fitness test for Chahar, who will need to prove he is match fit to play for India. If he does well, his name will automatically be back among the front-runners for the ICC T20 World Cup 2022 scheduled to take place in Australia later this year. 

Not to forget, National Cricket Academy (NCA) head VVS Laxman has been named as the coach of the side as Rahul Dravid will give this tour a miss ahead of the all-important Asia Cup that begins on August 27 in UAE. Laxman had earlier been coach on the tour of Ireland as well in June.