(Last Updated on September 15, 2015 by Editor)
Wicketkeeper Richmond Mutumbami made a comeback to the Zimbabwe limited-overs squads to face Pakistan for the two T20s this month and three ODIs in October. Mutumbami replaced Regis Chakabva in the squad that played against New Zealand in August, and pacer Taurai Muzarabani, who played the lone T20 against New Zealand and is uncapped in ODIs, was included for both formats.
Chakabva was dropped after low scores of 13, 3 and 2 in one T20 and two ODIs against New Zealand, and even though Mutumbami’s recent scores have not been impressive either, he got the nod ahead of Chakabva.
Muzarabani has played only three T20Is so far with two wickets to his name and has a List A average of 28.72 from 46 matches. He bowled spells of 0 for 19 from three overs and 0 for 18 from four overs for Zimbabwe President’s XI in the Africa T20 Cup recently.
Even though Zimbabwe’s bowling had struggled against New Zealand, taking ten wickets overall in three ODIs, including a wicketless second match, the selectors did not make any changes in the bowling options apart from Muzarabani’s inclusion.
Malcolm Waller, who was dropped for the first two ODIs against New Zealand and replaced Vusi Sibanda later, was included in the 16-man squad while Sibanda failed to make a comeback. Waller was not a part of the playing XI in the third ODI and his bowling action was cleared by the ICC later in August.
“The dynamic of the squad is made up of a calm and aggressive combination for the Pakistan series. It’s a squad based on building a performance-related culture and giving a platform to the younger future players to prove their ability,” Zimbabwe’s convener of selectors Kenyon Ziehl said.
The two T20s will be played on September 27 and 29 followed by the ODIs on October 1, 3 and 5. All five matches will be played in Harare.
Zimbabwe squad: Elton Chigumbura (captain), Sikandar Raza, Chamu Chibhabha, Graeme Cremer, Craig Ervine, Luke Jongwe, Neville Madziva, Hamilton Masakadza, Chris Mpofu, Richmond Mutumbami (wk), Taurai Muzarabani, John Nyumbu, Tinashe Panyangara, Prosper Utseya, Malcolm Waller, Sean Williams