FOWERING Zimbabwe fast bowler Blessing Muzarabani is at his first cricket ICC Men's T20 World Cup and is already making his mark after helping the country to a first Super 12 qualification on Friday.
The 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) star is currently the joint third highest wicket taker with Alzarri Joseph from West Indies after the first round group matches with six wickets in three matches.
And with the country set to play five more Super 12 matches, the 26-year-old strike bowler will be looking for more scalps and help the country progress further in the competition.
This is exactly what his dreams were made of growing up in the dusty streets of Highfields in Harare.
"As for me I grew up in the high density area of Zimbabwe so me getting here is a dream come true. When I was young it was something I was always looking forward to so me getting here means a lot to me," Muzarabani said in a video interview with ICC TV.
"I would love to be the game changer and be the guy that can take wickets for the team and be the guy that is going to take Zimbabwe in the final," he added.
Game changer he has been so far for Zimbabwe at the global cricket showpiece and his wickets tally is just one behind leaders Wanindu Hasaranga and Bas de Leede from Sri Lanka and the Netherlands respectively.
Coach Dave Houghton who has been credited with the upturn in form for the Chevrons since taking over a few months back backed the bowler to achieve great things in future.
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"Blessing is very tall. He is a very exciting fast bowler. He is one of those few youngsters in our team who has had international experience in different competitions. He has had a couple of seasons in England at Northamptonshire in county cricket and he has been to the Pakistan Super League.
"He will create problems for opposition batsmen. He gets bounce and is reasonably quick with it so he is one to watch for the future for us," Houghton said.
Muzarabani also spoke about his love to bowl as well as his experience in some of the top leagues around the world.
"I just love bowling. Like if you just give me the ball I can bowl and bowl and bowl, if you don’t stop I keep bowling. In Australia the wicket is bouncing. I will try to use a lot of bouncers and slow balls.
"I got to meet different people (playing at top leagues), different players, and different coaches so you get to find what is good for you. The experience that you get from playing leagues is just something else," he said.
Teammate Wessley Madhevere who is one of the rising stars in the team is grateful that he never has to face Muzarabani on the international stage since they are in the same team.
“It’s quite intimidating facing him but I am just lucky that I won’t be on the other side facing him,” he said with a chuckle.
The Chevron captain Craig Ervine was also full of praise for the bowler.
“Blessing is going to be a huge attribute to us with the bouncy wickets (in Australia) . Hopefully he will come into his own and have his tail up. Having him back in the bowling unit is big and having him leading that team is even bigger,” he said.
Born in Murewa, Muzarabani’s career began when he was just nine in Highfields high density suburb and made his international debut in a Test match against South Africa on Boxing Day in 2017.
And since then he has represented Zimbabwe in six Tests, 33 ODIs and 29 T20is and has a combined total of 101 international wickets.
