Online Reporter
Don Makanyanga
Zimpapers Sports Hub
FOLLOWING the historic home Test win by the Chevrons on Wednesday, Zimbabwe Cricket chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani is optimistic of good times ahead for the national team.
Zimbabwe cruised to an innings and 73-run victory over Afghanistan inside three days.
It was an historic win for Zimbabwe, a first in 12 years on home soil and a first with an innings in 24 years.
Mukuhlani believes that the win is a culmination of an approach that has been taken by the association to ensure that the national team becomes competitive on the international stage.
As part of the robust approach, Zimbabwe Cricket have sent the Chevrons to play some highly-ranked nations.
The Chevrons have played against England away and New Zealand and South Africa.
The association said their focus was on building a competitive side to compete on 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 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.
He said the Chevrons were poised for good times.
“From the tours I mentioned, 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,” said the ZC boss.
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 Ngrava, 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 how he 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 will become,” said Mukuhlani.
The ZC chairman said 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 Brendan 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 in of Naqvi and those seasoned players that we have, then I think we are good to go and ready to face any opposition,” said Mukuhlani.
Mathew Masinge