The Sunday Mail
Don Makanyanga
Sports Reporter
FOR Chevrons coach Lalchand Rajput, the just-ended tour to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was quite the rollercoaster.
Having missed Zimbabwe’s tour to Pakistan in October last year, Rajput went from the relief of just being back at work to the ecstasy of a historic Test win over Afghanistan, and then the disappointment of watching his side lose the second Test and get whitewashed 3-0 in the Twenty20 series.
All this was packed in the space of 19 days.
Ever the pragmatist, Rajput has opted for a sober analysis of his charges’ performance during the series.
Returning to the dugout after putting behind the ignominy of failing to take part in the Pakistan tour, the 60-year-old has spoken of his excitement to be back.
“As a coach you always want to be with the team.
“Prior to the trip to the UAE, I was very much excited and looking forward to playing against Afghanistan.
“It’s not a nice feeling to watch the boys playing and you are not with them.
“I really missed being with them, although I did follow them on TV, and I was also in constant touch with them through WhatsApp,” Rajput said.
The Chevrons welcomed their coach in style during the first Test, as their historic two-day victory was hugely satisfying to the gaffer.
However, Rajput has since described the drawn Test series bitter-sweet.
“I was really happy and the boys were happy that we won the first Test.
“We knew that they would come back very strongly in the second (Test), since we won the first inside two days.
“Since it was their home match, they prepared a very placid pitch once they saw our medium-pace attack.
“Still I would say we didn’t bat well in the first innings of the second Test.
“If we had batted well in the first innings, the result would have been different.
“It was satisfying to draw the series, but I would have been merrier if we would have won. We haven’t won a series abroad in the last 20 years,” he said.
He took time to praise his young charges, singling out performances of the bowling attack of Blessing Muzarabani, Donald Tiripano, Victor Nyauchi, including the exploits of skipper Sean Williams with the bat.
“It was a very good team effort, especially the three fast bowlers (Muzarabani, Nyauchi and Donald Tiripano), who bowled exceptionally well and took 16 of the 20 wickets among themselves during the first Test.
“Sean Williams played a captain’s knock, and led from the front, to make sure that we got over the line.
“The second Test we lost, but I am very proud of my boys in the way we fought and took the game till the three sessions of the fifth day.”
Despite missing the services of seasoned hands like Brendon Taylor, Chamu Chibhabha, Craig Ervine and Kyle Jarvis, Rajput believes the tour served as an opportunity to groom upcoming players.
“Yes, definitely, you miss your senior players, but you have to groom your younger players at some stage or the other.
“There will be a transitional phase in every team, but I am happy that some of the younger players have responded well.”
He was also impressed by their performances.
“Some (young players) have really shown promise and I am sure they will be pushing hard for their places.
“The main thing is you have to strengthen the bench so that you have competition for every position.
“When your bench is strong, your national team will be strong. Widening the base for selection is very important.”
He also spoke about the limited overs, where the Chevrons lost the T20I series.
“In the T20 we didn’t play to our potential.
“I think we should have done better than the results showed, and won a few games.
“Afghanistan is very good in T20 and ranked very high up in the ICC ranking, so it was a tough challenge for us.
“We have learned a lot from this tour, which will help us to do better and move forward.”
