New Delhi, India

Shubman Gill has turned out to be the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) top contender to lead India in the upcoming tour of Zimbabwe, after the T20 World Cup. Gill was part of the Rohit Sharma-led India's T20 WC squad, named among the reserves, before being released. The right-hander is being considered to lead the Men in Blue in the tour of the African nation after Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav reportedly declined to take part in the tour. India will tour Zimbabwe for a five-match T20I series starting on July 6.

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As per a report in the Indian Express, the decision to consider Gill as the Indian captain for the Zimbabwe tour came after Hardik and Surya's refusal to take part in the tour. Many senior players such as Rohit, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik and Surya are expected to take a break post the ongoing T20 WC, in West Indies and the USA. Hence, Gill's name came up to lead the national side in Zimbabwe, where several youngsters will also be tested. 

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BCCI are likely to try and test many youngsters in the tour, who have done well in this year's IPL. The likes of Sanju Samson, Nitish Rana,  Rinku Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Harshit Rana, Riyan Parag, Abhishek Sharma, Tushar Deshpande are reportedly expected to travel to Zimbabwe.

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Moreover, National Cricket Academy (NCA) head VVS Laxman will be serving as the head coach of Team India in Zimbabwe with Gautam Gambhir -- the next Indian team head coach in all likelihood -- to take over from India's limited-overs tour of Sri Lanka, later in July.