Stand-in Zimbabwe captain Nomvelo Sibanda won the toss and opted to bat in their first ever women's ODI against India. Sibanda said their regular captain Josephine Nkomo was out with a niggle.

India gave a debut to seam-bowling allrounder Jintimani Kalita, who played for Mumbai Indians in the 2023 and 2025 WPL; she got her cap from Harmanpreet Kaur. Kalita had received her maiden ODI call-up as a replacement for Renuka Singh, who as per a BCCI statement was still "building up the bowling volume required for the 50-over format".

N Shree Charani was the preferred left-arm spinner over Vaishnavi Sharma, with vice-captain Deepti Sharma the other frontline option. Pratika Rawal, pencilled to bat at No. 3, as well as Shafali Verma can also bowl offspin. Maharashtra batter Tejal Hasabnis was slotted at No. 5, which a fit Jemimah Rodrigues would have otherwise occupied.

Mandhana said that the pitch at the Kotambi Stadium was a red-soil surface. When the WPL was played here earlier this year, it was a black-soil surface.

This is India's first game of the new ICC Women's Championship cycle that runs until the 2029 ODI World Cup. India are playing their first ODI since February 2026 and only their second series since their maiden World Cup win last year.

India: 1 Smriti Mandhana (capt), 2 Shafali Verma, 3 Pratika Rawal, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur, 5 Tejal Hasabnis, 6 Deepti Sharma, 7 Richa Ghosh (wk), 8 N Shree Charani, 9 Jintimani Kalita, 10, Sayali Satghare, 11 Kranti Gaud

Zimbabwe: 1 Beloved Biza, 2 Sharne Mayers, 3 Modester Mupachikwa (wk), 4 Chiedza Dhuru, 5 Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano, 6 Michelle Mavunga, 7 Nyasha Gwanzura, 8 Tendai Makusha, 9 Nomvelo Sibanda (capt), 10 Loryn Phiri, 11 Olinder Chare