Masakadza excited about rebuilding team for 2023 World Cup

The triangular Twenty20 International series at home didn’t go the way Zimbabwe would have wanted, but with the one-day international series against ICC Champions Trophy winners coming up, the team have a chance of scripting a turnaround.

“I think the biggest thing is that as a country we don’t play a lot of international cricket, so there’s a lot to be gained by playing these games,” said Masakadza, the veteran batsman, ahead of the first ODI of the five-match series, to be played in Bulawayo on Friday, 13 July.

“We won’t be at the World Cup but it's an opportunity to start building up for the guys who will be at the next World Cup. We have a lot of inexperienced guys, so it’s an opportunity to blood the new guys, give them a go and have them get the feel of what playing at the highest level is like.”

There were widespread changes in the team and in the support staff following Zimbabwe’s failure to qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. Senior pros Brendan Taylor, Graeme Cremer, Craig Ervine and Sean Williams were then left out of the squad for the T20I triangular and Sikandar Raza opted to play in the Global T20 Canada league, leaving the team with little experience.

Zimbabwe’s best performer in the triangular, Solomon Mire, has since been sidelined with injury along with Kyle Jarvis too.

Fortunately for Zimbabwe, they have, apart from Masakadza himself, experienced players in Elton Chigumbura, Chamu Chibhabha, Peter Moor, Tendai Chatara, Donald Tiripano and Tendai Chisoro in the mix.

“The opposition will always be trying to come hard at you but I think it is very exciting. It is a big opportunity for a few of the guys to have a feel of the international stage and also for a few guys that haven't been in the team, coming back and trying to reclaim their spots. So I think it’s very exciting,” said Masakadza.

“The situation with Mire is that he sustained a bit of an injury the last game we played. They are still having a look at him but he's very unlikely to play any part in the series. But there’s still a slight chance. They are assessing him, but definitely he won't be available for the first couple of games and we’ve got at least two guys that are there as cover for the opening spots.

“We’ve got young [Tinashe] Kamunhukamwe and also Chamu Chibhabha coming back into the one-day set-up – they are both opening batters – and we also have Brian Chari, also an opening batter. So we definitely have enough cover upfront.”

The return to captaincy hasn’t started well for the 34-year-old batsman with the experience of 36 Tests, 193 ODIs and 56 T20Is, but Masakadza says he is dealing with it.

“International cricket is the highest level. It is actually the most difficult, so there’s always an element of pressure, but having been around for as long as I have, I have learnt to embrace it and I have learnt to deal with it,” he said.

“So it probably won't affect me as much as it would a younger guy and it’s up to me to try and help them to be able to embrace it and deal with it. For me there’s always pressure to put runs on the board for the team and that doesn’t change and it also spurs me to go out there and try and get the team off to a good start.”