Indian cricket team in Zimbabwe in 2015 that the tour will go ahead with India fielding a second-strength side, with the selection committee meeting in Delhi on 29 June to pick the squads. Indian team director Ravi Shastri missed the tour due to professional commitments that were agreed before the BCCI extended his contract. The Indian squad was announced on 29 June as planned. On 6 July Indian bowler Karn Sharma was ruled out of the tour after fracturing a finger in his left hand. There was no replacement for him. This left the Indian team with only two spin options of Harbhajan Singh and Axar Patel.
Harbhajan Singh in further controversy after an 2008 Indian Premier League (IPL) match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab at Mohali in April 2008. While the teams were shaking hands, he slapped Punjab paceman and Indian teammate Sreesanth in the face. Harbhajan, who had stood in as the Mumbai captain for the first three matches of the tournament to that point, all of which were lost, had apparently been angered by Sreesanth's aggressive sending-off of his batsmen as Punjab coasted to a decisive victory. The Kings XI Punjab lodged an official complaint to the IPL. The match referee Farokh Engineer found