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Former England player named in Zimbabwe squad for Ireland T20Is

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Sikandar Raza, Blessing Muzarabani, Regis Chakabva and Milton Shumba miss out from Zimbabwe's T20I squad for the series that begins mid-January.

The team has four changes from the squad that played the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in Australia last year with the most notable one being the addition of former England player Gary Ballance, who recently signed a two-year deal with Zimbabwe cricket to play domestic and international cricket.

Ballance was released from Yorkshire after a lengthy stint that began in 2007 and returned to Zimbabwe to represent his home country.

"I'm thrilled to be joining Zimbabwe Cricket and can't wait to start work with some great coaches and talented players," Ballance said at the time.

"The opportunity to represent Zimbabwe has given me a new-found passion and excitement for the game."

While Ballance's return is great news, Zimbabwe are missing star all-rounder Raza, who has been granted permission to play franchise cricket instead.

Muzarabani is still recovering from a quadriceps injury, but Tendai Chatara and Richard Ngarava are present to bolster the pace attack.

Sikandar Raza stars in Zimbabwe's historic win | POTM Highlights | T20WC 2022

All-round brilliance from Sikandar Raza helped Zimbabwe beat Scotland to book a berth in the Super 12 stage of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022.

The T20I series will be played in Harare with matches on January 12, 14 and 15. This is followed by an ODI series which will be played at the same venue on January 18, 21 and 23. The date for the second ODI was moved from January 20 to 21.

Squad: Craig Ervine (captain), Gary Ballance, Ryan Burl, Tendai Chatara, Bradley Evans, Luke Jongwe, Innocent Kaia, Clive Madande, Wessley Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Tony Munyonga, Richard Ngarava, Victor Nyauchi, Sean Williams