The Sunday Mail
Tinashe Kusema
Deputy Sports Editor
CONVENTION dictates that a leader takes responsibility for every defeat, failure, or disappointment, and that tradition is common practice in cricket.
And as Zimbabwe Cricket begins to take stock of yet another disappointing tour, skipper Chamunorwa Chibhabha has come under fire, with some quarters calling for his head.
That Zimbabwe’s tour to Pakistan was anything, but a disappointment is arguably the understatement of the year, with the Chevrons managing just one win out of a possible six.
The Asian giants emerged 2-1 winners in One Day Internationals, putting 20 points on the board in the inaugural ICC Cricket World Cup Super League and whitewashing the visitors 3-0 in Twenty20 series.
However, much of the criticism levelled against Chibhabha has been on his personal performance, as the skipper failed to make an impactful contribution at the top of the batting order.
In the ODI series, the 34-year-old finished with a paltry 19 runs from three innings, which is an average of 6,33, and a best of 13.
The captain failed to make a dent in the T20 version too, making another lowly 46 runs from three innings.
However, to his credit, Chibhabha took the criticism in his stride, accepting responsibility for his sub-par performance and vowing to fight on in spite of all the “hate”.
“I have played international cricket long enough to understand that the same fans who are praising you today and singing your name will turn on you tomorrow.
“In their eyes, you are only as good as your last game, and rightly so,” said Chibhabha.
“As captain, I always want to lead from the front by scoring runs to help my team win games, and I will be the first to admit that I didn’t score enough runs.
“Fans are right to demand that their captain leads from the front, and it’s something I am determined to get right.
“This was my first full tour as captain, and, from a team standpoint, I take pride in that we managed to win for the first time in 22 years in Pakistan.
“Without giving any excuses, these statistics just tell that historically Zimbabwe has always come back home empty-handed after touring Pakistan. But this time, we could have come back with a series win,” he said.
It is not only Chibhabha’s performance that left many fuming.
Off the pitch, the skipper engaged in an ugly spat with a fan on social media during the tour, which many believe was beneath both the badge and his standing as captain.
“When I was appointed captain, I decided to be more engaging with our fans on social media.
“I knew that I would encounter all sorts of people: trolls that are not worthy of my time, honest critics who will debate issues using facts and neutrals who just want the best for Zimbabwe cricket.
“Trolls want to bully players until they decide not to engage with the public, so on the day in question, I decided to try and understand what really goes on in the head of a troll by engaging them at their level and I learned quite a lot.
“Even after the incident, I am even more determined to continue engaging honest critics for a rationale debate.
“I am not going to stop engaging our fans because of social media trolls.”
Chibhabha still believes that the tour was not a total waste and has come back with a lot of takeaways, both positive and negative.
Among the positives is the return to action, getting some points on the board in the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League, and the emergence of young Wesley Madhevere.
“The tour was really a mixed bag. We started strong and finished on a low note by losing all the T20 matches.
“We should have won the first ODI and ultimately the ODI series 2-1. Pakistan played the big moments better than us.
“Winning the third ODI in the manner we did and putting some points on the board towards the qualification for the World Cup in 2023 was probably the highest point of the tour,” he said.
Chibhabha described Madhevere as a big revelation who embodies everything that makes for a fearless cricketer.
He believes Blessing Muzarabani “is a captain’s dream’’, as the seamer showed his value to the team by coming with breakthroughs every time he was given the ball.
The two were among the top performers of the tour, with Madhevere fifth on the top run-scorers of the One Day Internationals with 98. Only the Pakistan duo of Babar Azam (221) and Imam-ul-Haq (111) and the Zimbabwe duo of Sean Williams and Brendan Taylor had more.
In the T20 format, the 20-year-old was in the thick of things, chipping in with 103 runs from three innings.
Only Azam (133) had more.
Muzarabani finished with seven and four scalps in the ODI and T20 respectively, topping the former and finishing third in the latter.
In the end, Chibhabha was happy to be back on the park.
“It’s not a secret that Zimbabwe doesn’t play a lot of international matches compared to other full members, but we had a packed 2020 calendar before Covid-19 ruined everything.
“That being said, everyone was happy to be back on the park playing cricket and, more importantly, representing our country.
“Playing for your country is the highest honour that can be bestowed on any sportsperson and I think the only frustrating thing was that we didn’t cap our return to the middle with a series win,” he said.
