Tatenda Taibu is the natural Zim captain

the field surrounding the captaincy.
The big question has been who will be leading the country going in to a crucial period as they try to find their feet in the real world of Test cricket?
The natural person to lead the country would be Tatenda Taibu whose natural leadership skills and feel for the game, make him tower head and shoulders above the rest despite his lack of physical stature.
However, a few off-the-field incidents with certain members of Zimbabwe Cricket, have certainly left the board reluctant to re-appoint him as captain.
That being the case a question comes to mind. If Mark Vermeulin, who caused hundreds and thousands of dollars of damage to property and destroyed a lifetime of memories which will never be replaced again regardless of the quality of the new set-up, was allowed to play, why can’t the simple issue of Tatenda not be put behind us?
Why don’t we let him captain the country which would clearly be a step in the right direction?
Be that as it may we are only humble people with a passion for the game and respect decisions that are made.
So this leads us to our next question. Has Elton Chigumbura really resigned as captain? Was he really asked to stay on as captain and if so why?
When it was made public that Chigumbura had indeed resigned as captain a few names were mentioned as replacements. Brendan Taylor, Raymond Price and Hamilton Masakadza came into the picture.
It may not have been such a bad idea to consider someone like Masakadza. A fresh man with fresh ideas but appointing Price or Taylor may very well have spelt trouble.
It is important to remember that cricket is now ranked number two in the country, after football, and therefore many would have considered it taking a step backwards if we were to appoint Price or Taylor as our new captain.
It is also quite possible that we have been making a mistake by selecting form players to be our captains because, as we all know, it doesn’t always mean that a player who consistently performs with bat or ball would have the best qualities of leading the national team.
Yes, of course, your captain should be able to hold his spot in the side but surely there’s more to it than scoring runs or taking wickets on a regular basis.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe cricket lovers must have been delighted to hear that Price has joined the Mumbai Indians for the remainder of the IPL WHICH WILL NO DOUBT BE A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE FOR HIM AS HE BRUSHES SHOULDERS WITH INTERNATIONAL PLAYERS AND EXCHANGES NOTES WITH THEM.
However, many of us were left scratching our heads as to why someone who has a one-day ranking of number 2 still finds himself entrenched in the dugout instead of being on the field.
From a bowling point of view he is the highest ranked bowler in the franchise and yet still finds himself sitting on the sidelines.
You can be rest assured, however, that if he was a South African or an Australian or any players from the sub continent Price would have played as soon as he touched down in India.
Cricket in the West Indies has been in steady free fall for the last 10 years or so and when a good player comes along, surely the West Indies board should be willing to bend over backwards to ensure they do not lose such talent to the IPL.
Look how Chris Gayle, in particular, has turned the event on its head as up to now he has made mincemeat of his opposision as, in absolutely no time, he has bludgeoned his way to being right up there with the best of the IPL.
Do the powers that be not have sleepless nights about this? Do they know that in time to come each and every player that has some sort of talent will be stolen away and led to greener pastures?
Or are they deliberately turning a blind eye and displaying a hard core attitude?
If so is it right for a once-loved and feared team to be reduced to the equivalence of a franchise side with talented but non productive players?
l Dean du Plessis, a cricket analyst, writes exclusively for The Saturday Herald, the newspaper with the biggest sports coverage in the country. He can be contacted at [email protected]