The Sunday Mail
Sports Reporter
IN the sea of mediocrity that is the Zimbabwe cricket team, opening bowler Tinashe Panyangara stands out as a refreshing island of good form.
The 30-year-old has bowled 14 maidens in 26 ODI innings in 2015, making him second to New Zealand’s Trent Boult with 19 maidens from 17 innings.
Panyangara, who is currently the 16th most successful ODI bowler with 23 wickets this year, is armed with smooth bowling action that has often given Zimbabwe a good start with the ball.
“I make sure I cover all the basics at the nets and also work in the nets in between series to make sure the basic stay on point,” said the Chevrons opening bowler.
Although his stats make good reading, the hardworking Panyangara reckons he can go a gear up.
“It’s good to have such statistics, but there is still room for improvement because at the end of the day those stats won’t matter if I am not improving. Every game is a new day,” he said.
Panyangara has identified his fitness levels as a weak area and has been sweating it out for long hours at the Country Club Gym.
“I am putting a lot of work on my fitness,” he said.
“I also need to improve my death bowling and I am working on it. My death bowling showed signs of improvement in Bangladesh and by the time the World T20 comes, I should have covered the basis and be the best I can be.”
The drive towards improvement has also seen Panyangara spending time with bowling coach Dougie Hondo.
Hondo reckons Chokie is hitting the peak as he heads for the top.
“Chokie is blessed with a naturally rhythmical action which is repeatable, so just like every other bowler I have with worked this last year, I created a video database on my iPad,” said Hondo.
“I know him so well so if anything starts getting out of sync I have a reference of when he was bowling well and we correct it in stages.
“He has a good work ethic when it comes to his bowling. There is careful interactive monitoring of his workloads through managing his rest and bowling days.
“It keeps him fresh and his fighting attitude is going to end up at the top.”
Chevrons captain Elton Chigumbura conceded that Panyangara is one of the senior players that have been stepping up to the plate consistently this year.
“It makes my job easier to have a guy like him,” said Chigumbura by telephone from Bangladesh where he is playing in the Bangladesh Premier League for the Chittagong Vikings.
Meanwhile, one would be tempted to conclude that Panyangara is nicknamed “Chokie” for chocking the batsman by bowling tight but that is miles away from the truth.
“I used to like chocolates a lot when I was young, so Chokie is short for chocolate. I got the nickname from my primary school mates at Godfrey Huggins.
“The nickname has stuck on me although I no longer like chocolates that much,” said Panyangara.
