Squad's out, not the most promising again.
Raza (Captain)
Blessing
Brian
Evans
Taylor
Ervine
Masuku
Newman
Burl
Marumani
Tsiga
Masekasa
Madhevere
Out: Kaia, Cremer
In: Masekasa, Tsiga
Series
Series Discussion: Zimbabwe Tour of the UAE | 2026 Oct 17 - 2026 Oct 23
Series/Tournament Pinned
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Edited
Lot of doubts here
First of, why is Raza the captain? Is Ngarava being injury managed or do they just not trust him enough? I've seen enough of Raza, we need someone new as the VC - Bennett perhaps.
Next, why BT? We've seen the Aus series, he looked out of sorts, there is no reason why he's in. At this point he's just hogging a spot - give it to some youngster already.
And no Cremer? For a UAE tour, one would assume hes a guarantee pick with his experience, and he was not too shabby against Aus either.
No Kaia as well, I presume the reason is the hamstring issue he picked up against Aus, but slotting Tsiga in doesnt really solve matters either, we're effectively carrying 3 wicketkeepers now.
What beats me is Kaia is in the T20 squad, so the thinking might be that he's going to make a recovery for that? But that's hardly 4 days from the tri series, what difference is that going to make?
I would field this XI:
Bennett
Curran
Ervine
Maru
Wez
Raza
Burl
Evans
Newman
Masekasa
Blessing
First of, why is Raza the captain? Is Ngarava being injury managed or do they just not trust him enough? I've seen enough of Raza, we need someone new as the VC - Bennett perhaps.
Next, why BT? We've seen the Aus series, he looked out of sorts, there is no reason why he's in. At this point he's just hogging a spot - give it to some youngster already.
And no Cremer? For a UAE tour, one would assume hes a guarantee pick with his experience, and he was not too shabby against Aus either.
No Kaia as well, I presume the reason is the hamstring issue he picked up against Aus, but slotting Tsiga in doesnt really solve matters either, we're effectively carrying 3 wicketkeepers now.
What beats me is Kaia is in the T20 squad, so the thinking might be that he's going to make a recovery for that? But that's hardly 4 days from the tri series, what difference is that going to make?
I would field this XI:
Bennett
Curran
Ervine
Maru
Wez
Raza
Burl
Evans
Newman
Masekasa
Blessing
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Richie hasn't been seen since he told the colonial brass band where to go in the Bangladesh series 😂😂
The kind of brass band that was in coal mines the length and breadth of England 😂 couldn’t get any more colonial style if you tried.
The kind of brass band that was in coal mines the length and breadth of England 😂 couldn’t get any more colonial style if you tried.
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Ritchie has to get the SOGO sticker off his bat.
It looks like they are doing what they did the line up of the t20 World Cup. By keeping the same squad from series to series.
It looks like they are doing what they did the line up of the t20 World Cup. By keeping the same squad from series to series.
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Thread updated to cover the ODI tri-series, T20I series and the Tests.
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Quoted from dandy in post #47142
Squad's out, not the most promising again.
Raza (Captain)
Blessing
Brian
Evans
Taylor
Ervine
Masuku
Newman
Burl
Marumani
Tsiga
Masekasa
Madhevere
Out: Kaia, Cremer
In: Masekasa, Tsiga
Curran and Welly are missing here.
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Squad for T20 games:
Sikandar Raza (Captain)
Ben Curran
Blessing Muzarabani
Brad Evans
Brian Bennett
Innocent Kaia
Kundai Matigimu
Newman Nyamhuri
Ryan Burl
Tadiwanashe Marumani
Tafadzwa Tsiga
Vincent Masekesa
Wellington Masakadza
Wessly Madhevere
Sikandar Raza (Captain)
Ben Curran
Blessing Muzarabani
Brad Evans
Brian Bennett
Innocent Kaia
Kundai Matigimu
Newman Nyamhuri
Ryan Burl
Tadiwanashe Marumani
Tafadzwa Tsiga
Vincent Masekesa
Wellington Masakadza
Wessly Madhevere
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Quoted from admin in post #47151
Quoted from dandy in post #47142
Squad's out, not the most promising again.
Raza (Captain)
Blessing
Brian
Evans
Taylor
Ervine
Masuku
Newman
Burl
Marumani
Tsiga
Masekasa
Madhevere
Out: Kaia, Cremer
In: Masekasa, Tsiga
Curran and Welly are missing here.
Whoops sorry bout that
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Any idea what's happening with Richie?
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After watching bits and pieces of the drawn Afg/BD Test, I believe we will have to play at least 2 specialist spinners. Either Evans or Nyamhuri will miss out. For me, Brad gets the nod because he's a better bowler and can bat.
I know the squad for the Test series hasn't been announced yet, but I think we will see this XI on the day of the first Test:
Curran, Kaia, Taylor, Bennett (c), Ervine, Wes, Tsiga, Evans, Welly, Masekesa, Blessing
Bennett should be making his debut as captain since he's the Test vice-captain.
I know the squad for the Test series hasn't been announced yet, but I think we will see this XI on the day of the first Test:
Curran, Kaia, Taylor, Bennett (c), Ervine, Wes, Tsiga, Evans, Welly, Masekesa, Blessing
Bennett should be making his debut as captain since he's the Test vice-captain.
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Quoted from admin in post #47188
After watching bits and pieces of the drawn Afg/BD Test, I believe we will have to play at least 2 specialist spinners. Either Evans or Nyamhuri will miss out. For me, Brad gets the nod because he's a better bowler and can bat.
I know the squad for the Test series hasn't been announced yet, but I think we will see this XI on the day of the first Test:
Curran, Kaia, Taylor, Bennett (c), Ervine, Wes, Tsiga, Evans, Welly, Masekesa, Blessing
Bennett should be making his debut as captain since he's the Test vice-captain.
If this happens, we'll have three tests with three different captains 😂
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Quoted from admin in post #47188
After watching bits and pieces of the drawn Afg/BD Test, I believe we will have to play at least 2 specialist spinners. Either Evans or Nyamhuri will miss out. For me, Brad gets the nod because he's a better bowler and can bat.
I know the squad for the Test series hasn't been announced yet, but I think we will see this XI on the day of the first Test:
Curran, Kaia, Taylor, Bennett (c), Ervine, Wes, Tsiga, Evans, Welly, Masekesa, Blessing
Bennett should be making his debut as captain since he's the Test vice-captain.
Hopefully we'll see Matt make his test debut in Taylor's place
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Quoted from admin in post #47188
After watching bits and pieces of the drawn Afg/BD Test, I believe we will have to play at least 2 specialist spinners. Either Evans or Nyamhuri will miss out. For me, Brad gets the nod because he's a better bowler and can bat.
Quicks took the bulk of the wickets in Abu Dhabi for both teams. I think Masekesa should get the nod because the AFG spinners who did well, were the wrist spinners. Bangladesh's trio of finger spinners were all ineffective.
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Quoted from Kriterion_BD in post #47192
Quoted from admin in post #47188
After watching bits and pieces of the drawn Afg/BD Test, I believe we will have to play at least 2 specialist spinners. Either Evans or Nyamhuri will miss out. For me, Brad gets the nod because he's a better bowler and can bat.
Quicks took the bulk of the wickets in Abu Dhabi for both teams. I think Masekesa should get the nod because the AFG spinners who did well, were the wrist spinners. Bangladesh's trio of finger spinners were all ineffective.
Clearly I didn't watch enough of the game 😂. I had to go back and watch the highlights. The seamers took the bulk of the wickets like you said. They had to work hard for their wickets though. It did look like a good batting wicket and the scores suggest it was. It's a shame Bangladesh didn't close out the game. They should have. Credit to Afghanistan.
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Yeah it was a pretty solid Test wicket. Had a little something for everyone (except maybe finger spinners). Pretty much 38 degrees every day in hot sunny conditions, so was demanding conditions for the quicks. Full on credit to Afghanistan for such a heroic draw. Everyone saying its as good as win, including Afghan captain himself. Can't say I disagree. Could be a watershed moment for them.
The Afghan seamers are quite decent. Bear in mind this was a reasonably unhelpful surface. Saleem is a tall seamer with genuine 140+ pace. Yamin is a medium pacer but has a pretty solid record. Their spinners are also OK, even in the absence of Rashid Khan. On the batting front they seem to have a few solid batters in Rahmat, Sediq, and Hashmatullah, but they will probably also have one or two passengers in the batting department as well.
The Afghan seamers are quite decent. Bear in mind this was a reasonably unhelpful surface. Saleem is a tall seamer with genuine 140+ pace. Yamin is a medium pacer but has a pretty solid record. Their spinners are also OK, even in the absence of Rashid Khan. On the batting front they seem to have a few solid batters in Rahmat, Sediq, and Hashmatullah, but they will probably also have one or two passengers in the batting department as well.
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Edited
Quoted from Kriterion_BD in post #47196
Pretty much 38 degrees every day in hot sunny conditions,
Sizzling like your baji monira khatun 😂
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Quoted from Pat_Bee in post #47226
Sizzling like your baji monira khatun 😂
Impressive lexicon...but if I had to nitpick, "baji" is Urdu..."buaiy" would be the appropriate Bengali equivalent.
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Cremer injured or not available?
Surely Cremer wasn't dropped for Masekesa? That would make no sense at all.
Seems like ZC basically stick to picking the same squads per World Cup cycle.
Surely Cremer wasn't dropped for Masekesa? That would make no sense at all.
Seems like ZC basically stick to picking the same squads per World Cup cycle.
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Quoted from Kriterion_BD in post #47227
Quoted from Pat_Bee in post #47226
Sizzling like your baji monira khatun 😂
Impressive lexicon...but if I had to nitpick, "baji" is Urdu..."buaiy" would be the appropriate Bengali equivalent.
Old bangers used to be east Pakistan 😂 I stand by it.
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