Chevrons’ new era leaves no room for complacency

Tinashe Kusema

Zimpapers Sports Hub

THE Zimbabwe Chevrons team is back home, safe and sound!

The team returned home under the guise of the night in batches, stretched over three days, and were all accounted for by Sunday morning this past weekend. Missing was the usual pomp and fanfare that usually greets a national team coming off a hugely successful campaign, and — by their standards, at least — the just-ended ICC Men’s T20 World Cup was just that — successful.

Unfortunately, the ongoing unrest in the Middle East robbed the Chevrons of their hero’s welcome as the Chevrons got stranded in India soon after their elimination from the tournament.

This was due to airspace closures and travel chaos caused by the ongoing war in the Middle East. The team was scheduled to return home via Dubai but faced disruptions that affected key transit routes.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) then activated contingency measures to secure alternative travel arrangements for the squad and support staff.

“The airspace issue with the war meant we stayed in Delhi (India) for a few extra days but, other than that, everything was good,” said Chevrons coach, Justin Sammons.

“They (ICC) looked after us and we got back safely via Ethiopian Airlines and Addis Ababa.

“We just split up into probably about five small groups on our way home at various different times.

“However, everyone’s back safe and we are all good now,” he said.

Now, there is an argument to be made that the just-ended ICC Men’s T20 World Cup could be one of the more unpredictable and eye-opening cricket tournaments in recent memory.

India put on a near-perfect campaign to clinch their third title, capped off by a 96-run demolition of New Zealand in Sunday’s final at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

The Black Caps and South Africa lived up to their billing as the near-men and chokers tag as New Zealand lost another final while the Proteas failed yet another campaign.

South Africa, for most of the tournament, had emerged as the team to beat before losing yet another semi-final, this to New Zealand by nine wickets. Australia got a rude awakening as the former champions paid the price for their lack of depth and exited the tournament in the group stages. Zimbabwe, however, could be the story of the tournament as the Chevrons put up a near-perfect group stage campaign on their way to the Super Eight. The Chevrons thrashed associate side Oman (eight wickets) after which they beat the more fancied Australia (23 runs) and Sri Lanka (six wicket) to top their group and finish unbeaten going into the Super Eight stage.

Their match against Ireland was abandoned without a ball bowled.

“Yeah, it was a great tournament and I am really proud of the boys,” said Sammons.

“We played some really excellent cricket along the way, and it was a good learning experience for us,” he said.

Making it into the Super Eight ensured that Zimbabwe automatically qualified for the next T20 World Cup that will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand. As it pertains to this Super Eight stage, though, Zimbabwe found the going tough as they lost all of their matches against West Indies (107 runs), eventual winners India (72 runs) and South Africa (five wickets).

However, the team had over achieved by merely making it thus far.

“Overally, I am extremely happy with the outcome and the way we performed,” he said.

“If you think back 18 or 20 months ago, we were in Kenya in sub-regional qualifiers against Gambia and the likes.

“So for us to then be in the top eight in the world is an exceptional achievement.

“The Super Eight, obviously, was slightly different in its challenges.

“Moving from Sri Lanka, which suited our skill set, to go into India, where really only Raza had some experience there, proved to be a huge challenge.

“I think, from a bowling point of view, it’s a lot harder because the grounds are so much smaller, and the wickets are flat.

“So certainly, our skill set and ability to upset the batter’s rhythm was tested there.

“I think there are also some great takeaways from our performances.

“The work starts now, there is no room to stand still.

“We need to improve our skill sets and our conditioning still needs a lot of work.

As it pertains to the obvious positives, Blessing Muzarabani, Brian Bennett and skipper Sikandar Raza are some of the players who had great tournaments.

Muzarabani finished in the top five wicket takers with 13 scalps, just one below the India duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakravarthy, who were tied on 14. Muzarabani was also tied on 13 wickets with Shadley van Schalkwyk (US) and Adil Rashid of England.

In the batting category, Bennett finished with 292 runs and was sixth on the most runs charts, behind Pakistan’s Sahibzada (383), New Zealand’s Tim Seifert (326), the India duo of Sanju Samson (321) and Ishan Kishan (317) and New Zealand’s Finn Allen (298).

“The stand-out performer was obviously Brian Bennett, he had a great tournament,” said Sammons. “He was, however, not alone as Blessing (Muzarabani) was exceptional too and Raza, obviously, chipped in with good performances with the bat and ball for an all-round performance against South Africa,” said Sammons.

Now, as Zimbabwe looks to the future, Sammons believes that the current Chevrons set-up have what it takes to replicate, and even do better, come 2028 in Australia and New Zealand.

“I am certain by 2028, we will be in a better place to replicate or even do better than a Super Eight finish,” he said. “A strong domestic league will be key and I would like to see strong performances from the current team and more in the domestic league.

“Our next big assignment will be in July against Pakistan but we will not rest on our laurels. “We’re going to be spending a lot of time on the fundamentals and trying to upskill through the winter months.

“By July everybody should be fit and healthy, which is good,” he said.