daniel chigunwe
THE Zimbabwe men’s national cricket team last week confirmed their place at this year’s International Cricket Council T20 Cricket World Cup following a clean sweep at the qualifying tournament held in Bulawayo.
This was good news to the domestic cricket loving community as it is the first time that Zimbabwe are returning to a cricket World Cup event in over five years.
It has been such a long time away from the global stage that the whole nation will be watching with keen interest as the Chevrons square off with 15 other teams in Australia in October.
What is needed now is good preparation.
The team demonstrated the hunger to play at the global stage once again by staging a flawless campaign which ended with Zimbabwe winning all five matches.
The fighting spirit was unmatched. Considering where the team was coming from, winning the Qualifier was huge for Zimbabwe.
They had sunk to new depths under coach Lalchand Rajput. It was unacceptable.
The appointment of local legend Dave Houghton was what the doctor ordered.
The team had lost ground in recent years.
They were pummelled by all the big teams and were also losing to teams that they previously beat on any day.
Recently they became the first team to lose a series to rising Associate Members Namibia.
Zimbabwe used to enjoy automatic qualification for ICC World Cup tournaments but because of the depths they had sunk, they needed to go through the qualifying round this time.
But after going through a test that involved teams like Papua New Guinea, USA and the Netherlands, who they beat on their way to winning the ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier, the momentum must extend to the international engagements against the big teams and to the upcoming T20 World Cup.
There is no point in trying to derive satisfaction from beating the likes of Jersey, Singapore, USA and even the Netherlands. There is still a long way to go.
Zimbabwe should now seek to compete with these big teams more consistently and winning against them.
They used to do that in the past when local cricket was in ascendancy. It is still possible.
The good thing is that there are three tours against big teams coming up in the next six weeks.
This is the time for new coach Houghton to prove whether they have the capacity to compete against the big teams, most of whom were beginning to see no value in playing Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe are expected to host Bangladesh in a limited overs series which is followed by another home series against India, before leaving for Australia late next month.
The three T20I and three One Day Internationals against Bangladesh are a good opportunity for Houghton’s men to play more cricket against high quality opposition.
It’s quite unfortunate that Bangladesh, who are coming from an ODI series whitewash against the West Indies, have grown while Zimbabwe regressed. Zimbabwe used to be ranked higher than Bangladesh not so many years ago but the tables have since turned.
A few days after playing them, Zimbabwe will host India for three ODIs.
The series against India is part of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League, a 13-team competition serving as the main route for direct qualification for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 to be staged in India.
Zimbabwe will then tour Australia for another Super League series consisting of three ODIs before returning Down Under for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup set for October.
It is important to be competitive. Most importantly, the Chevrons should not go and make the numbers at the ICC T20 World Cup in Australia.
Nothing should stop them from aiming to win the silverware.
After all, it’s not bad to aim high.
Preparations are key.
The team needs all the support from all stakeholders to make sure it is primed for high level competition.
Zimbabwe Cricket also needs to make sure they have put in place mechanisms to ensure the continued success of the side.
Online Reporter