ZIMBABWE senior men’s cricket team embark on an unfamiliar voyage as they participate in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup Africa Sub-Region Qualifier B, intending to weave their magic back into the big boys league.
The failure to qualify for the 2024 Twenty 20 World Cup, co-hosted by West Indies and the US, coupled with decent performances by USA and Netherlands, have further complicated the Chevrons’ qualification path, relegating them to an unfamiliar route.
The Qualifier B, to be hosted by Kenya, will feature six teams, namely The Gambia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Seychelles, hosts Kenya and Zimbabwe.
The top two teams proceed to the Regional Final, joining Africa’s representative at the last T20 World Cup, Uganda and Namibia and four other teams from Sub Region Qualifiers A and C.
The Qualifier B matches kick off this Saturday and Zimbabwe will play against Seychelles in their opening match.
However, new Chevrons head coach Justin Sammons is not perturbed by the turn of events.
In fact, as a proponent for developmental cricket albeit at the helm of Zimbabwe Cricket, this presents him with a platform to work on guiding the team back to glory with less pressure.
The Chevrons, led by international T20 skipper Sikandar Raza, are in Kenya for the Qualifiers.
Sammons had ample time to assess his arsenal and polish them up for the job at hand.
With his predecessor Dave Houghton losing to Uganda and Namibia in the futile Qualifiers in Windhoek last year, Sammons is pragmatic about the dangers of undermining an opposition.
“The squad has worked really well over the past month. We had three weeks of camps with the greatest squad and then it was whittled down. I am very happy with the preparation and the expectation is to go and win every game,” Sammons told NewsDay Sport.
“We respect every opposition. There are no small nations in ours. It’s not the person or the nation you are playing. It’s obviously bat versus ball. And we have to go out there and execute our skills.”
The team has a defined long-term vision which the coach is happy that it stays within them for now.
However, his clarion call on the lads is to take care of their processes well as opposed to concentrating on the size or stature of the opposition.
“Our focus is obviously one step at a time. This is a journey and not an overnight sort of project. So, it is one step at a time obviously trying to reach that end vision,” Sammons added.
“Our focus is not on the opposition, it’s on ourselves. We’ve got a process and a game plan that we want to stick to and that will be our focus. Obviously we respect every opposition we come up against, but our focus has to be on what we are doing.
“The focus needs to be on ourselves and making sure we stick to our processes. We understand the way we want to play cricket now and just to go and make sure that we execute that.”
A number of youngsters have stood up to be counted, culminating in a squad boasting both experience and youth.
“I am very excited about the youngsters in the squad and it is obviously nice that we do have a little bit of experience in and around them for them to feed off of,” he said.
“I think they bring a great energy that obviously resonates throughout the squad. And then obviously it is nice to be able to balance it with those senior players, sort of a little bit more experience. But I think it’s a lovely blend.”
All-rounder Tashinga Musekiwa and seamer Tinotenda Maposa are the only uncapped players in the side.
Zimbabwe Squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Sub Regional Africa Qualifier B
Sikandar Raza, Faraz Akram, Brian Bennett, Ryan Burl, Trevor Gwandu, Clive Madande, Wessly Madhevere, Tinotenda Maposa, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Brandon Mavuta, Tashinga Musekiwa, Blessing Muzarabani, Dion Myers, Richard Ngarava
