Cricket Tournaments

Zimbabwe may have gone down tamely to Sri Lanka in the tri-series final. But, that should not, for a moment, dishearten either the team or its supporters. When the series began, no one had given Zimbabwe a chance of making it to the finals. The fact that they made it, and that too at the back of three emphatic wins in four matches – two against India and one against Sri Lanka – proves that theirs has been the real victory, the story of the series.

For India and Sri Lanka, these games were supposed to be practice matches, which was reflected in the teams the chose. But, for Zimbabwe, this was an opportunity to face-off against big boys after a long time, albeit second-string teams. And so, nothing can be taken away from them for the effort the put into their matches, and making the series an unexpectedly interesting one. And so, world cricket should slowly but surely start taking Zimbabwe seriously once again.

The reversal in the final notwithstanding, Zimbabwe had plenty of gains, clearly the most, among the three teams on display. First and foremost, it was their confidence level that needs to be appreciated. In all the games that they won, they outclassed their much-superior opponents in a thoroughly professional manner. Undoubtedly, this was one of the primary factors why there were able to make a huge impression in the series.

Moving on to individual performances, there were a number of memorable ones from Zimbabwe’s side. The one that instantly comes to mind is that of ‘Man of the Series’ Brendan Taylor. Leaving the finals apart, he made a match-winning contribution in most of the other games, and was aptly chosen as the player of the tournament.

Batting at the top of the order, Taylor was at his irrepressible best, getting the team off to great starts in the company of Hamilton Masakadza. More significantly, he has the ability to stay at the crease till the very end, which played such a major role in Zimbabwe’s flourishing fortunes. With all the strokes in the book and a proper aptitude, Taylor seems set for a long innings in international cricket, if Zimbabwe’s political situation allows him to do so.

Amongst the others, as mentioned earlier, Masakadza provided excellent support to Taylor, and ensured the run-rate was always at acceptable proportions. Tatenda Taibu also proved his worth yet again, chipping in with crucial knocks throughout. His effort in the final may have been in vain, but it kept Zimbabwe in high spirits after they got off to a disastrous start. The tiny Taibu is experienced way beyond his age, and should now remain a vital cog in this outfit for a number of years.

Apart from the experienced guys, there were a couple of surprise packages too. Craig Ervine’s match-winning knock on debut was a veteran-like effort. If he can carry on from where he has started, Zimbabwe cricket will be served well. The skipper Elton Chigumbura also chipped in and wasn’t the worst in his first series as captain either.

Looking at the bowling, there were a couple of plusses in that department too. While the medium-pacers were surprisingly efficient against India, the spin of Greg Lamb and Ray Price shockingly troubled them even more. It helped that India went in to their games with a negative mindset; still the bowlers need to be given equal credit. It needed a Tillakarante Dilshan special to bring them down to earth.

At the start of this tri-series, Zimbabwe were down in the dumps. But, thanks to the confidence gained from the last couple of weeks, things are already looking better for the home team. With West Indies’ unrelenting slide, world cricket is desperate for a competitive Zimbabwe team.

Chigumbura - leader of the home pack

In spite to being pitted against a second-string Indian side, one has to say that Zimbabwe’s win in the opening encounter of the tri-series was nothing short of an upset. After all, Zimbabwe have been playing with a makeshift team themselves for half a decade.

Even so, this series presents them with a great opportunity to gain some much-needed experience and start the process of getting their cricket back on track. The comprehensive victory against India was a perfect step in this direction.

Even since their top players quit the scene owing to political instabilities, Zimbabwe have struggled to put together 11 men to take the field and also to find an opposition, with most teams backing out when the crisis was at its peak.

And so, with India and Sri Lanka arriving in the African nation, Zimbabwe stand to gain the most, irrespective of the result.

There were plenty of positives in the opening game itself for Zimbabwe as they took full advantage of the inexperienced Indians and handed them a rude jolt. Among the ones who were particularly impressive was a debutant named Craig Ervine, who batted with nerves of steel to guide the team home in what should have been a tough chase even against a weakened Indian bowling line-up.

True, he was helped to a great extent by the enormous start that the openers gave the home side. Still, it can never be easy for a first-timer to go out in the middle under tough circumstances and see things through to the very end.

The fact that Ervine succeeding in staying at the crease till the winning runs were hit should stand him in good stead, at least for some of the future matches.

It wasn’t the debutant alone, though, who stood up to be counted. The most striking aspect of Zimbabwe’s win was that each and every batsman made a significant contribution during the chase.

The intent to win, which was a hallmark of 90s’ Zimbabwe even when they lost, was palpable in this bunch of players. And so, they went out with a positive attitude, which worked wonders for the spirit of the team.

The openers Hamilton Masakadza and Brendan Taylor handled the newbie Indian bowlers with consummate ease and the confidence only rubbed off on the rest. And, every time Zimbabwe looked in a spot of bother, there was someone to bail them out, be it Ervine, Charles Coventry or newly-elected skipper Elton Chigumbura, who hit the winning runs.

This was one of the key factors that contributed to Zimbabwe’s elusive triumph against a Test-playing nation, apart from Bangladesh.

On the contrary, India shouldn’t read too much into the defeat. Considering the lack of experience in the side, they were bound to struggle even against Zimbabwe.

The best they can do is have a peek at what some of their youngsters like Ashok Dinda, Umesh Yadav and Vinay Kumar are capable of and look forward to build a team from there for bigger battles.

All three mentioned are pace bowlers, a department in which the cupboard is definitely looking bare, and hence rather significant. The World Cup is now only months away, so India cannot afford to play merry-go-round for long.

This series should give them an opportunity to shortlist some of the rookies, who they believe can come in handy during the mega event.

Having seen their ragged performance in the opening game, it is evident that they have a lot of hard work to do. But, this is just the start for Suresh Raina and co.
The valiant knocks from Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja, though in a losing cause, should inspire the newer members of the team to pull up their socks.

While there isn’t much for the viewers to gain from watching this experimental series, the same cannot be said for the teams.