The Sunday Mail
Brighton Zhawi
TATENDA Taibu is playing cricket again, and for once, everything seems right with the world again.
Unfortunately, the 35-year-old has been very Taibu-like about his comeback, choosing to be tight-lipped about his next move.
He is also silent on whether he is interested in playing for the Chevrons again.
“There are those who are praying that it won’t happen, and luckily they are others who are praying it does,” Taibu said, when asked if he fancied another dance with the national team.
“When you are popular, there are people who wish you well and those who wish you bad.
“The ones who wish you bad are more interested in knowing your plans than the ones who wish you well.
“The ones who wish you bad, you mustn’t hate them, but feel sorry for them because they don’t have anything good in their hearts to extend to someone else.
“They probably had a tough life and feel that life hasn’t treated them fairly, or they just feel unlucky.
“So I just try to keep my plans at heart,” said Taibu, who quit international cricket in 2012.
He did have a short stint with Hightown St Mary’s CC in the UK as player/coach before his appointment as Zimbabwe Cricket Convener of Selectors.
Sadly, that too did not last or end well as his flirtation with ZC ended after Zimbabwe failed to qualify for this year’s World Cup.
So in a way, one understands the former Chevrons skipper and wicketkeeper’s reluctance to talk about his long-term plans.
What he does talk about, with authority and pride, is his road to match fitness and the role one Clement Rizhibowa played in the said road.
“I am definitely one of the fittest cricketers alive today and credit goes to Clem,” said Taibu, who is now playing for Baduraliya Sports Club in Sri Lanka.
“I chose him because of his professionalism and honesty,” said Taibu.
“I knew he would know the tip point where he pushes me to the extreme without breaking me.
“And I was right, he did just that.
“He still sends me programmes to follow on maintenance because my matches here come thick and fast,” continued Taibu.
Rizhibowa, for his part, simply adores Taibu and loves working with him.
He has even gone on to call ‘Tiba’ his biggest client to date.
“I knew the stakes would be high upon his return, so the art was in me coming up with a programme to make him as fit as ever.
“I enjoyed working on that masterpiece. He complied by giving in 502 percent of his sweat.
“We have been very close for a long time, there is a greater walk of faith that has brought us together… people don’t know half the person he is,” he said.
A former head boy at Blakiston Primary and Allan Wilson School, Rizhibowa now dreams of owning a fitness studio.
“I want to produce top athletes in their various discipline.
“I do outdoor cross-fit mixed with calisthenics (gymnastics) training.
“I like to burn fat, build muscle from the inside out and also do lots of body functional movements.
“I do home calls too.
“I’m finishing my correspondence programme with Trifocus, South Africa, after which I hope to own my own fitness studio,” he said.
