The Sunday Mail
CHEVRONS skipper Hamilton Masakadza has called on his boys to move on from the loss of three key players and make an impact at the Twenty20 Cricket World Cup in India.
Zimbabwe, who will be missing vice-captain Graeme Cremer (forearm), all-rounder Luke Jongwe (concussion) and Neville Madziva (thumb), open their campaign against Hong Kong on Nagpur on Tuesday.
The 32-year-old Masakadza admitted that life would be easier with the injured trio available, but he remained confident the Chevrons would put on a good show.
“It is a massive blow and not ideal looking at the major part they were going to play in the campaign,” the skipper told this publication from the team’s camp last week.
“But we have to move on from that as we cannot change it and hope the guys that are replacing them will step up to the plate. We need to move on and focus on what’s ahead of us, we have a big job to do.”
Chamu Chibhabha, Donald Tiripano and Tawanda Mpariwa have been called up as replacements.
“It was made easier by the fact that two of the replacements (Chibhabha and Tiripano) were already with us in the practice matches and were already part of the team. Integrating them into the fold has been easy,” said Masakadza.
The Zimbabwe captain gleaned positives from the practice matches played against Sharjah Cricket Club and the West Indies.
“I think the practice matches have been really helpful … there are a lot of positives to be taken from them. With both the batting and the bowling a lot of guys have maintained their form and some guys are also coming into form at just about the right time,” said Masakadza.
Two days after Hong Kong, Zimbabwe play Scotland before completing their group assignmetns with a clash against Afghanistan.
Masakadza said the Chevrons were out to hit the ground running.
“That is one of our main goals, to hit the ground running and start well and, yes, hopefully set the tone for the rest of the games.
“It is the big stage and obviously we are really excited about the game against Hong Kong, this being our opener in the tournament as well. The boys are looking forward to it and raring to go,” he said.
