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Brighton Zhawi
For Zimbabwe Under-19 all-rounder, William Mushinge; working hard, playing hard and praying even harder is more than just a catchphrase, that is his way of life. Mushinge is arguably one of the top performers in the current Zimbabwe Under-19 national team.
Only recently, he returned home from India as the team’s best performer during their tour against Afghanistan.
There, he finished as the team’s top run scorer with 139 runs from four innings and an average of 34.75.
His highest score was 65 runs, and he capped it all with five wickets. Zimbabwe did not perform up to standard, losing all four games, but gaffer Steven Mangongo can take confidence from the fact that at least one player did well on the pitch during all four games. True to his mantra, Mushinge practiced hard, played hard and assuming that the 19-year-old also pray harded wouldn’t be far-fetched.
His peers have since christened him Mr Consistent, largely due to his work ethic before, during and after the recent tour against Afghanistan.
Speaking on both his work ethic and nickname, Mushinge said, “Being an all-rounder means one thing and that is fitness.”
“Mental strength is also important as you have to believe that you can do it. Back your skill, practice hard and pray hard as well
“I work on my fitness every morning and that is usually with the team fitness trainer, Walter Karimanzira.
“I am one of the first people to arrive for practice and usually start my daily routine by doing some stair drills to work on my core.
“When the rest of the team arrives, I will be ahead of them.
“As an all-rounder, especially one who bowls pace, you need to be fit,” he said. With the ICC Under-19 World Cup around the corner, Mr Consistence has expressed his desire to win games for his team.
“I am never satisfied, even when I perform well.
“I want to keep on pushing until l achieve the impossible,” he said.
“The sad part is that we haven’t won a single game. My main goal now is to win games for my country.
“I believe with the way the guys are pushing themselves, when we get to the World Cup we will surprise teams,” he said.
Zimbabwe has been grouped together with England, West Indies and Fiji at the Under-19 World Cup slated for January 22 to February 14. Mushinge is confident that the team will win over hearts, both home and away, despite the negativity they have had to endure.
“We are finding good combinations, the guys want to improve with some of them staying behind hitting balls. I think everyone is on the same page.
“We also want to prove people wrong since there have been a lot of doubts about the team. As a team we want to prove that we are better than what people think we are.
“All we only need is time since there is a huge gap between school-boy cricket and international cricket.
“We are working really hard, some guys are even practicing alone for hours and that will help us.
“The important thing now is for us to start winning games,” said the former Godfrey Huggins and Watershed College pupil.
While Mushinge is a huge fan of West Indies’ all-rounder Andre Russell, Englishman Ben Stokes’ outstanding innings of 258 delivered against South Africa last week challenged him.
“My favourite cricketer is Andre Russell. My hairstyle is almost similar to his.
“However, I was watching (Ben) Stokes bat after I finished my practice on Sunday and just the feeling of scoring a hundred with those multitudes of people watching pushed me to work even harder.
“I actually stopped watching TV soon after and started bowling again.
“I said to myself I want to be better than that guy,” he said.
Mushinge says he strongly believes in God.
“When I am not playing cricket, I love spending time at church and praising God,” he said.
After the interview with The Sunday Mail Sport, Mushinge returned to his training session.
Only the Lord knows how long he did his own workout.
Online Reporter