Zimbabwe return to the big stage rebuilding belief and chasing relevance

Snapshot

Zimbabwe arrive at the T20 World Cup as a team rebuilding belief and relevance on the global stage. Having missed out on multiple global events over the past decade, including the last T20 World Cup where Uganda took over their spot, Zimbabwe will be keen to make amends. There is renewed confidence around the side, driven by recent competitive performances. Expectations remain measured, yet the hunger to upset higher-ranked teams is unmistakable. For Zimbabwe, this tournament is about momentum, credibility, and turning promise into tangible results.

The squad, and what it tells us

Sikandar Raza (c), Brian Bennett, Ryan Burl, Graeme Cremer, Bradley Evans, Clive Madande, Tinotenda Maposa, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Tony Munyonga, Tashinga Musekiwa, Blessing Muzarabani, Dion Myers, Richard Ngarava, Brendan Taylor

In Raza, Cremer and Taylor, Zimbabwe have three men pushing 40 in their squad as they bank on some rich experience. All three are expected to play pivotal roles. The batting department is the one to watch out for as it would appear a bit lightweight and Zimbabwe might end up banking heavily on rising star Brian Bennett. On the bowling front, they have a pretty formidable pace attack. Brad Evans has been amongst the wickets and the experienced duo of Richard Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani will be quite a handful. In the spin department, they have got variety with Raza, Cremer, Masakadza and Burl.

The road to the World Cup

Zimbabwe had a flawless campaign in the qualifiers to make it to this World Cup. They put the disappointment of losing to Uganda in the previous qualifiers behind them and won all five games, including the final this time.

However, post the qualifiers, Zimbabwe haven't really strung together wins. They have played seven T20Is since then and have lost six of them. The solo win came against Sri Lanka a couple of months ago in the tri-series in Pakistan. That should give them some confidence given Sri Lanka are in their group.

Last five T20Is: L-L-W-L-L (latest)

The way they play

One common theme in those six recent losses mentioned above is a pattern to their batting misgivings. In three of those games, they have been shot out for a total between 120-130 and that would be a matter of concern. Veteran Taylor hasn't fired in these games post the qualifiers and Zimbabwe would hope he can come good to support their openers and the finishing pair of Raza and Ryan Burl.

In the game that they did win against Sri Lanka, their bowling attack stood tall and delivered in unison which once again suggests that it is indeed their strongest suit. It's worth remembering that among all full member teams, Zimbabwe have been the worst batting side in this World Cup cycle in terms of average (22).

Who can bend a match in 10 balls

With the bat or the ball, Sikandar Raza has been the torchbearer of Zimbabwean cricket in recent years. The inspirational skipper has the ability to turn games around with the ball given how seamlessly he can switch between bowling offbreaks and legbreaks. In the recent SA20, Raza picked 15 wickets in 10 games at an economy rate of 7.36 and also hit a last-ball six in one of the matches to seal a thrilling win for his side. He once smashed 15 sixes in a qualifier fixture not too long ago.

Scheduling

Zimbabwe play all their group fixtures in Sri Lanka. They did arrive in the country a lot earlier for a training camp in Hambantota and have three out of their four games in Colombo. With not a single D/N fixture in sight, Zimbabwe will be hoping their spinners can have a say in every single clash. At the Premadasa stadium in particular, a venue where Zimbabwe play twice, the spinners have had a huge say in recent fixtures involving England and Sri Lanka.

Banana peel fixture

While Zimbabwe are expected to brush Oman aside, the contest against Ireland could get tricky. Given it is scheduled at Pallekele where the conditions could favour batters more compared to the other Sri Lankan venues, Ireland could push Zimbabwe to the edge.

What a good World Cup looks like

For a team that doesn't feature regularly in ICC tournaments, a third place finish in the group would constitute a decent tournament. However, it's worth remembering the upset they caused in the 2022 edition against Pakistan that enabled them to qualify for the next stage. A similar outcome cannot be ruled out this time as well given the two fixtures at RPS comes against Sri Lanka and Australia - a team that they recently beat and a team that's struggled against spin recently.