The 15-member Zimbabwe squad has arrived Dhaka to take part in two Tests and
three one-days with the hosts in different venues
Shahryar Khan05-Nov-2001
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© CricInfo |
The 15-member Zimbabwe squad has arrived Dhaka to take part in two Tests and
three one-days with the hosts in different venues. After Heath Streak took
himself off the charge of captaincy, Bryan Murphy has substituted him to lead
the team that are passing some hard time in International arena.
Zimbabwe has opted to give some new kids a break for this tour. The names of
some renowned players, who dominated the grounds for Zimbabwe for the past
years, are missing from the list. In its place we can see some new faces
prevailing in the squad. Actually Zimbabwe wants to try their juniors and for
that Bangladesh is the best of choices.
The absent of Alistair Campbell is one of the notable omissions. This veteran
Zimbabwean could not make his grade against Bangladesh in April, in home
grounds.
Paul Strang is the kind of a bowler Zimbabwe would really miss in this tour,
especially in such flat tracks of Dhaka where fast bowlers can hardly do
anything. We saw Bangladeshi batsmen wobbling against Kaneria’s not-so-harmful
leg-breaks in our Multan disaster. So, Paul could turn out to be the danger man
for the hosts and relief for the Bangladesh top-order but should be mindful of
Raymond Price!! Price took a haul of seven wickets in the second Test to rip
away the Bangladeshi middle order.
His brother Bryan, a very versatile left arm fast medium bowler, is not
coming. So is the case of Andrew Blignaut, a very successful bowler in April
tour, this year. Blignaut alone made the damage for Bangladesh in Tests &
ODI and only a couple of batsmen could make a deal with him (Habibul Bashar
& Javed Omar).
Henry Olonga has replaced Matambwa, who pulled off with nine wickets in his
bag in Bangladesh’s tour of Zimbabwe in April. Olonga is certainly a better
bowler who can impart genuine pace with his deliveries. He will be sharing the
new ball with Heath Streak.
The most worrying matter for the hosts could be Andrew Flower, the most
enviable batsman currently. Andy’s track of records in this subcontinent
pitches speaks so loud in his favor (Think of his success in India). Do
Bangladeshi bowlers have any special plan for him? Or this meek gentleman has
first-rate chances to bat for three days to break Bryan Lara’s record 375!
