BY DANIEL NHAKANISO ZIMBABWE captain Regis Chakabva says his teammates are excited and relishing the opportunity to compete against a strong Indian side ahead of the three-match One Day International Series which gets underway at Harare Sports Club this morning.
Chakabva will lead the Chevrons for the second successive ODI series after a memorable captaincy debut against Bangladesh where he scored the fastest ODI century by a Zimbabwe as the hosts went on to seal a 2-1 series victory.
And as the team braces to face one of world cricket’s superpowers, Chakabva said the tour was of huge significance for the hosts, not only due to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League points which will be on offer but also due to excitement which comes with playing against the Indians.
“It’s a massive tour for us, obviously there will be World Super League points at stake as well so it is big tournament for us. We’ve been talking about how there’s no Indian B or C side, India is able to produce many sides at a time so this is a strong Indian side and we are looking forward to the competition. We are very excited, the guys are looking forward to it, and there’s a lot of buzz in the changing room and at training,” Chakabva said at yesterday’s pre-match Press conference.
The series against India could not have come at a better time for the Zimbabwe side as they have been going through somewhat of a resurgence since the appointment of Dave Houghton as head coach.
The Zimbabwe legend’s strong emphasis on positive, aggressive cricket seems to be bringing the best out of his players, which was evident during the recent limited overs series against Bangladesh in which the hosts comfortably won both the T20I and ODI series.
Chakabva said the hosts will be looking to maintain the same approach against India but admitted that they will be seeking to improve their starts with the bat after constantly losing early wickets against Bangladesh.
“Yes, we are ready. Obviously, we’ve had a few days of good preparation after coming from a good series against Bangladesh. We’ve been talking about positive cricket, we haven’t had the best of starts with the bat and we’ve had a conversation about that as well with the coaches and it’s something we are looking to improve on in this series. We’ve put in some good work and we hope we can improve on that,” he said.
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Zimbabwe were handed a timely boost ahead of the series against India following the return of veteran allrounder Sean Williams, who missed the ODI series against Bangladesh after he was granted permission by Zimbabwe Cricket to attend to some personal matters.
Williams’ return is a massive boost for a side which despite its recent success has had to do without some of the senior players such as skipper Craig Ervine fast bowlers Blessing Muzarabani and Tendai Chatara.
India will be led by KL Rahul, who made his ODI and T20I debut six years ago in Zimbabwe and scored a memorable century. He said he was excited to return to Harare Sports Club, a venue he has very fond memories of after he became the first Indian to score a century on his ODI debut at the venue in 2016.
“It’s a very special feeling. Great memories from this ground. My ODI and T20I debut happened here in Harare. Hopefully, I can add on to those memories, coming back here after so many years and getting the opportunity to lead your country is very pleasing. As a person, you see how much you have grown as a player,” Rahul said.
India and Zimbabwe last played an ODI cricket match on June 15, 2016 in a match they comfortably won by 10 wickets after dismissing the Chevrons for a mere 123 runs before getting the required runs inside 21 overs and without losing a wicket.
The hosts, spurred on by their recent good form will be hoping for a more competitive series this time around starting this morning.
Zimbabwe squad for India ODIs:
Ryan Burl, Regis Chakabva (captain), Tanaka Chivanga, Bradley Evans, Luke Jongwe, Innocent Kaia, Takudzwanashe Kaitano, Clive Madande, Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, John Masara, Tony Munyonga, Richard Ngarava, Victor Nyauchi, Sikandar Raza, Milton Shumba, Donald Tiripano, Sean Williams
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