Eddie Chikamhi
Zimpapers Sports Hub
ZIMBABWE are set to confront their batting woes and turn around the script against old foes Afghanistan when they begin the three-match T20I series at the Sharjah Cricket ground in the United Arab Emirates today.
The Chevrons, who are coming from back-to-back defeats at the hands of the Blue Tigers in the recently ended One Day International triangular series that also involved Bangladesh, have identified the recurring top order batting fiasco as the major letdown in recent limited overs outings.
The top order glitches get more pronounced every time they face top quality bowling.
The Zimbabwean batters struggled in their recent home series against world champions India, and were in a big fix against South Africa in the triangular series hosted by Namibia last month.
In their current tour of the UAE, Zimbabwe also suffered the same challenge during the just-ended ODI triangular series. Raza will once again captain the T20I side in the absence of Richard Ngarava, who is still recovering from a back injury. The experienced all-rounder believes the upcoming series will present another test to their batting fortitude.
“For me, the biggest disappointment of this tour has been that we’ve been 20 for 3 and 30 for 3, and that’s something we have addressed. But unfortunately, we haven’t got it right in three games, and that’s an area of concern,” said Raza.
“But I remember one of the coaches we had in the past, Lance Klusener, always used to say that Zimbabwe is playing rescue missions all the time.
“The beauty of a rescue mission is not every rescue mission will be successful. I feel like that’s exactly what we’ve done in this series, and that’s where we’ve got it wrong.”
Zimbabwe have a poor record against Afghanistan in T20I competitions. The Chevrons have only won twice in 21 meetings and Afghanistan have claimed 19 victories.
This makes the Chevrons complete underdogs, considering they have also not won against the same opponents in the last five clashes dating back to 2024.
The national team selectors made a few changes to their squad with Innocent Kaia expected to join the team in UAE after missing the ODI series due to a thigh muscle strain.
Veterans Brendan Taylor and Craig Ervine, who has been battling a hamstring injury, will also miss out on the shortest format.
Ernest Masuku is also not part of the T20I squad, leaving Blessing Muzarabani, Brad Evans and Newman Nyamhuri as the key men to lead the bowling attack.
Zimbabwe will hope for better performance from openers Brian Bennett and Ben Curran while Kaia is expected to bring stability at the top, if he is fit enough to play.
However, they should not expect to get it easy against the Afghans, who dominated both Zimbabwe and Bangladesh to win the ODI triangular series.
Afghanistan star all-rounder Rashid Khan, who was unplayable with his spin bowling during the ODIs, is hoping to continue with the momentum.
Khan said his team learnt bitter lessons from their recent tour of India where they suffered a series whitewash.
“Well, good morale for us as a team to go for the T20I series. We haven’t had that great series against India and we got lots of learning from that.
“But for us, the challenge will be like how we as a team manage ourselves to perform well in T20Is as well and to make sure we, those areas we were, like struggling against India, try to improve it day by day, game by game, and take this momentum to the T20s,” said Khan.
ZIMBABWE T20I SQUAD:
Sikandar Raza (Captain), Ben Curran, Blessing Muzarabani, Brad Evans, Brian Bennett, Innocent Kaia, Kundai Matigimu, Newman Nyamhuri, Ryan Burl, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Tafadzwa Tsiga, Vincent Masekesa, Wellington Masakadza, Wessly Madhevere
