Chevrons, Pakistan, Which Has The Better Squad?

Ghevrons, Pakistan, Which Has The Better Squad?

By Perkins-Tino Bare

Both Zimbabwe and Pakistan named strong squads in their own respects for their upcoming series running from September 27 to the 5^th of October. The Chevrons will be looking forward to gain some respect from their fans who have been patient with them but the repeated manner in which they lose matches makes one wonder when exactly they are going to eventually cross that line into success.

More Of The Same Dose

Zimbabwe Cricket named an unchanged squad to represent the Chevrons, these are basically the same guys who have been turning up for the Chevs but there`s also some space for the young talent in the squad as we saw the inclusion of 3 guys who haven`t been turning out for the Chevrons.

The skipper will be none other than Elton Chigimbura and he is expected to lead the team in both the ODI`s not so sure about the T20`s and that whole experiment of letting Raza take over, which was successful; the last time round. Chigumbura will not only lead the team but he is also expected to use the series to gain his lost form. He has been the man to rely on for those last runs when the matches are all but done but he should readjust and start taking up his role in the team as a middle order batsman and not just playing to please the fans, worse-off when the guys have already lost the match.

The other guys who have also been sleeping in that middle order are the likes of Malcolm Waller and Graeme Cremer and these are well-able guys and they should surely step-up and take those roles which have been given to them and no just add numbers to the already short batting line-up. The guys however who are already expected to boost the middle order are Sean Williams who always is never short of confidence and recently Sikander Raza has been slowly getting his form back. The two are expected to bring some stability in that area but like I said the other guys also need to chip in and nit just wait on the two for their efforts usually end up being futile.

At the top of that pile we have Hamilton Masakadza and Chamu Chibhabha whoi are expected to be open up the the batting in the ODI`s and one thign that is clear is that they are both well able. What is frustrating rather is that when performs the other flops and the results have shown us that the two haven`t been building sustainable partnerships. The two last had a strong stand of 74 when we played New Zealand in August and though we went to lose the match it is these performances we need to be seeing more often which would also give the guys still to come a good foundation to build that scorecard on. Chamu Chibhabha has been in blistering form over the past matches averaging about 60 runs per innings in the past few matches posting figures of 32. 42 and 42 angainst New Zealand and that is pretty decent though we know he can post back to back half-centuries which he still to be doing. The only issue at the top of of that order and consequently the whole squad is that of forming sustainable partnerships and what I loved when the coach threw in Regis Chakabva at the top was that he showed a deep level of understanding with Chamu Chibhabha nad the two rotated the strike brilliantly which is exactly what we need to see. Now that he is not in the squad we just wait to see what the coach has in mind this time.

On the bowling side Tinashe Panyngara is expected to be leading a younbg bowling line-up which comprises of the the likes of John Nyumbu, Luke Jongwe andd Taurai Muzarabani not knowing if thay are all going to get a go. John Nyumbu and Luke Jongwe sshould be welcome revelation to that spin-attack which had been left crippled by the ICC and also the return of Malcolm Waller is set to be ht eheadlineas well. As he makes hie return to bowling after that ban, we just hope he wont be focusing more on doing it right than simply enjoying the game and bringing his A-game.

Pakistan on the other hand however selected the best men for the job and they just showed us that this is not simply fulfilling that return fixture that we made earlier. It is expected to be a warm welcome for Grant Flower whilst we also wait to see who`s going to be the man to fill-up those big boots left by Misbah. he was the man who always dug Pakistan out of their trenches whenever they found themselves on the rope and Shahid Afridi is also expected to cause some problems especially in the T20 formats.