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PLAYERS in the bloated Zimbabwe cricket squad will have to prove their worth when they engage in two practice games to be used by the selectors to trim the squad ahead of the India tour scheduled for late this month. The 25-member squad has been in camp for a month and are expected to intensify their preparations when they clash in limited overs matches tomorrow and Thursday.
Zimbabwe will be seeking a change of fortunes under the guidance of new coach Andy Waller when they play host to India in five One Day Internationals between 24 July and 3 August.
They are also scheduled to play host to Pakistan again in August.
Assistant coach Steve Mangongo yesterday said preparations were at advanced stage, adding that players will be selected on merit.
“I think this is one of the longest training periods that we have had as a team. We have done a lot of hard work already in fitness training. Fitness is very important as it gives the players confidence and lifts them psychologically but we are now moving a gear up from the fitness work load to focus more on the technical aspect of the game.
“We have come to the stage where we would want to give these guys real match scenarios where they will be executing their skills. We will have inter-games starting on Wednesday and the selectors should be moving to narrow down the squad by the end of this week,” said Mangongo.
Zimbabwe are expected to play warm-up game against Australia A between 18-20 July when they make a stop-over in Harare en-route to South Africa.
With fitness being their major concern at the moment, Zimbabwe welcomed back bowler Tinashe Panyangara who successfully completed his rehabilitation after complaining of a back injury.
But while Panyangara is now set to fight for a place in the team to face India, opening batsman Tino Mawayo will have to wait a bit longer. Mawoyo recently underwent a groin operation in South Africa and is making steady recovery and may be available next month when Pakistan visit.
India are playing in a tri-series in West Indies which also involves Sri Lanka. Pakistan will also tour the Caribbean this month before engaging Zimbabwe.
The Pakistan Cricket Board has indicated that they will extend the selection pool of players and shift focus towards youngsters ahead of picking a squad for the upcoming tours following their disappointing early exit from the Champions Trophy recently.
According to Pakistani newspaper, Daily Mail, the selectors have been given a free hand to replace the older players with youngsters. The selection panel, led by Iqbal Qasim, thereafter formed an extensive pool to be tested.
They may now think beyond the likes of Imran Farhat, Shoaib Malik and Kamran Akmal, who fared poorly in the Champions Trophy.
Haris Sohail, who suffered an ankle injury earlier this year, and Raza Hasan, who had major surgery on his spine, are back in contention, along with Umar Akmal and Ahmad Shahzad.
Umar was also seen with the wicket-keeping gloves along with Coach Dav Whatmore, which means he may be selected as the wicketkeeper in the squad.
Mohammad Irfan and Nasir Jamshed, automatic selections over the last eight months, were also asked to undertake fitness tests. Top-order batsmen Sohaib Maqsood from Multan, Sharjeel Khan from Hyderabad, left-arm spinners Zulfiqar Babar and Abdur Rehman, and legspinner Usman Qadir, all featured in a three-hour fitness test.
Pakistan suffered three straight defeats in the Champions Trophy with their batting being their major woe. They failed to cross 200 – bowled out for 170 against West Indies, 167 against South Africa and 165 in a rain-affected match against India to get eliminated from the group stage.
Only captain Misbahul Haq hit two half-centuries, while the other senior batsmen Mohammad Hafeez, Farhat, Malik and Kamran performed poorly.
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Online Reporter