Online Reporter
Don Makanyanga-Zimpapers Sports Hub
ZIMBABWE Cricket are loving the purple patch struck by the senior team and believe the Chevrons may have finally turned the corner after a difficult period, in easily their busiest year in nearly a decade.
Following the historic home Test win by the Chevrons in which they registered an innings and 73-run victory over Afghanistan in just two and a half days of the expected five, the Zimbabwe Cricket chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani feels there are even better times ahead for the national game.
What made the Chevrons’ victory even sweeter on Wednesday was that it was a first in 12 years on home soil and a first with an innings in 24 years.
Mukuhlani noted that the success which the Chevrons are now witnessing is a culmination of an approach that has been taken by ZC to ensure that the national team becomes competitive again on the international stage.
As part of that robust approach ZC lined up a number of Test, One Day and T20 matches against some of cricket’s heavyweights. Those top nations include England away at Trent Bridge and the home series against New Zealand and South Africa.
While some of the results were humiliating, for ZC what mattered was the bigger picture, as their focus was on exposing the new-look Chevrons to the rigours of the international stage.
“We faced a backlash from the results that we attained against powerhouses, England, New Zealand and South Africa, but our focus was on long-term plans to have our players be exposed at the highest level.
“And looking at the result against Afghanistan to post such wins, they don’t come from a vacuum but from the opposition you face, and I am happy that we are starting to see the results of playing high-end opposition,” said Mukuhlani. “From the tours I mentioned, some of our fans were not happy, but in my view, for our players it was a pressure cooker which will give us results, especially with sides to be of our equal strength, hence the need for us to play more of the top-ranked sides,” he said.
Mukuhlani was impressed with the level of confidence that was shown by the players and believes that there is a need to build on the historic win.
“I was really impressed by the level of confidence that was shown by Ben Curran, Nicholas Welch, Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani, Brad Evans and the other players.
“I was satisfied with the performance of Evans, who had been on the sidelines for a while and has been prone to injuries; he went on to get a fifer.
“He showed some improvements from the time he made his return, and looking at the bigger picture, the more tours we have with good opponents, the better our players become,” added Mukuhlani.
The ZC boss said that blending the youth and experienced players in the set-up was key to ensuring continuity for the team.
“We have a lot of promising players within the team, and the gradual blending with senior players allows them to settle. “We have had the Brendon Taylor effect, despite him scoring the double digits, which may not be milestones, but they have allowed the young players to build some innings, which has resulted in some solid batting.
“From our batting, I think we need a few additions to support Bennet, who I feel is still a work in progress.
“With the coming of Naqvi and those seasoned players that we have, then I think we are good to go and ready to face any opposition.”
ZC have also been working round the clock to ensure Zimbabwe is ready to deliver a successful staging of the 2027 World Cup for which they are co-hosts.
