At 33, Vusi faces the sunset

Tinashe Kusema
BATSMAN Vusimuzi Sibanda turns 33 tomorrow and already the word “retirement” is being associated with his international career.It appears that the more he plays, the louder calls for him to quit get. Those pushing for him to follow in the footsteps of contemporaries Tatenda Taibu and Stuart Matsikenyeri in walking away from the game are quick to point at Sibanda’s poor stats.In his 12 years of international cricket, Sibanda has played just 14 Tests, scoring 594 runs. He has two 50s in the longest format of the game and zero centuries.
His 127 One-day Internationals have produced 2 994 runs and two centuries – one against a full member country.

Sibanda averages under 25 in Test, ODIs and Twenty20s, and he pays the price for such a poor stat by being regularly dropped.
Zimbabwe Cricket have not handed him a central contract for the 2016/17 season and for a player who reckons he still has a decade worth of international cricket in him, the sun may be setting.
Sibanda is even struggling to pin down a place in the Zimbabwe A squad. Last week he was dropped for the last game against Pakistan A after only managing a paltry 40 runs in four innings.
The top order batsman is the first to admit he has not been doing the business, but adds “I still believe that I have a lot to offer the game”.

“Once I begin to question and doubt myself, then and only then will I consider retiring,” he says.
With ZC not offering him a central contract Sibanda does not need reminding of how far down the pecking order he has fallen.
“Unfortunately at this point in time I cannot really talk about the contract issue, as there are still things being sorted out by Zimbabwe Cricket,” he says. “However, as far as my game is concerned, the fact is we are not getting enough games and those few and far in-between games have not helped any of us. I am not going to use that as an excuse, nor will I use the whole contract issue (as an excuse).”

Sibanda dismisses suggestions that his game might be suffering because of a mental block.
“There are no mental issues at play here. When I get out there, my only focus is to play the best cricket I can. I just have to back myself up to recover my form and hopefully everything else will sort itself out,” he says.