Zimbabwe Tour Of Pakistan 2020 [ 3 Odis & 3 T20s ] : Pre Series Discussion

zimbos_05 wrote: ↑Sun Oct 11, 2020 12:14 am

Not sure about anyone else but to me that is a very underwhelming squad.

Are Kyle and PJ out injured? Few others I would have included that are not there

Jarvis is injured, PJ left out which is fair enough in my book.

foreignfield wrote: ↑Sat Oct 10, 2020 8:27 pm

CrimsonAvenger wrote: ↑Sat Oct 10, 2020 4:11 pm

We are sending a 20 man squad which makes it look like there would are some T20 specialists in there. We just don't know who they are.

:roll:

So true.

In fact, given the recent exploits, The Don seems to be our only T20 expert :)

Yeah, I don't think much could have been done differently with the selection with the folks fit and available.

With Jarvis out injured, the only other available players who should have come into contention were probably PJ, Musakanda and Madziva, with Mudzinganyama and Jongwe as outside chances. PJ hasn't been scoring much. Musakanda will hopefully force his way in soon and then they will have to answer tough questions about Chamu. Mudzinganyama loses out to Kamunhukamwe (the right choice probably) and Madziva losing out to Akram is a bitter pill to swallow. I just realized Chari is selected. There too, I would have gone with Mudzinganyama instead of him.

Chamu being the skipper hogs a place in the XI whether we like it or not. He has to make himself more useful by bowling some Hamilton-esque quiet overs in the middle of the innings or else he is taking the place of someone potentially better (like Shumba or Mudzinganyama)

Taylor neither seems to be fit enough nor has the endurance to play as a keeper batsman even in T20s these days so Mutumbami will play in the XI (possibly slightly better than Chakabva anyway, the other realistic choice). So, with Chamu and Mutumbami in the XI by default, we only have 9 realistic places to fill.

Chigs has shown very good form in the preparatory matches and has a spectacular record in Pakistan, so that selection is pretty much not debatable for a change.

And it is a welcome move to see Chisoro back too but probably won't make the XI to begin with as we have Williams (10) + Raza (6) + Wes (6) who should be able to bowl a combined 20-25 overs between them. Also good to not see Maruma there. I don't rate Ngarava, so the only reason he's probably there is due to the fact that he has the left arm variation. He shouldn't get a game though.

This is how I would set my XI for the ODIs:

Chamu / Kamu (if we get lucky with some Chamu injuries)

BT

Ervine

Williams

Madhevere

Raza

Chigs

Mutumbami / Burl (if Taylor keeps)

Mumba

Muzarabani

Chatara

BT looks like the most vulnerable in our lineup now. Burl should be breathing down his neck soon if runs continue to dry up. I thought of going with only 2 pacers but if either Chatara or Blessing have a bad day, we only have Chamu to turn to, which is not a great state to be in. Mumba can smoke some with the bat and provides a different dimension with the ball so he should fit in nicely.

sloandog wrote: ↑Fri Oct 09, 2020 10:22 am

He’s not an 87mph bowler, let’s get that straight. Pat Cummins and Rabada average that speed. He may be able to get the odd effort ball up there but he’s more in the low 130’s like the rest

Well when I say "consistently" I mean that the bowler can regularly hit that speed. For example, I would say Starc and Gabriel are probably the only 2 bowlers in world cricket that can consistently hit 150 km/h. Of course they don't "average" that speed. To me, if a bowler can bowl 10+ deliveries (from a 10 over spell) at 140 or above, whilst bowling the majority of his deliveries at 135-138, I would say that is "consistently" 140. His average pace might be closer to 135 or even 130 if he bowls a lot of cutters.

ZIMDOGGY wrote: ↑Fri Oct 09, 2020 5:57 pm

I don't know if you're being serious or having a laugh?

I think I could count 1 or 2 balls where Blessing hit the 140 mark. That's from what I saw of him and what others were tracking him as. He's usually late 120's.

Mamba the same.

Blessing is among the fastest ZIM seamers at the moment. Mumba up there as well. Jarvis, Chatara, Ngarava, Madziva, Tshuma, Tiripano are all 125-128 bowlers. So even if Blessing is late 120s, it makes him faster than those guys. I think he's closer to early 130s and Mumba is a closer to mid 130s. Mpofu is probably up there as well.

Add to that Blessing and Mumba's height, and they should be amongst the first names on the team sheet.

sloandog wrote: ↑Sat Oct 10, 2020 8:35 am

I really do miss Graeme Cremer, what a hole he’s left 😞

Cremer would most likely have taken a beating in PAK. I just feel like Cremer has only taken wickets against Ireland, Afghanistan, Scotland and Netherlands.

Lockie Ferguson is by far the fastest in the world. His average speed is 89mph, higher than anyone else

sloandog wrote: ↑Sun Oct 11, 2020 12:05 pm

Lockie Ferguson is by far the fastest in the world. His average speed is 89mph, higher than anyone else

I forgot about him and Jofra Archer. You might be right about Ferguson. But I would imagine in a red ball match Starc would be quicker over time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpTcRUFy1RU

Looks like the final hurdle to the tour has been cleared. Looking forward to seeing ZIM in action especially getting underway in WC Super League.

This sounds awful but I just didn’t want to see Maruma and Chigumbura do well in this match. It provides the selectors some more firepower to back their selections

Maruma and Chigs doing well, almost like clockwork 😂 😂 😂

There is really going to be a log-jam in the batting order for the ODI side, assuming Chamu opens because he's captain, assuming BT doesn't keep because of his back,assuming BT doesn't open, assuming either Elton or Maruma bat at No.7 as the finisher and assuming they pick three seamers and Chisoro or Shumba as the spinner there could be some stiff competition in the middle order

Openers

Chamu

Kumunhukamwe

Middle order 3-6

Ervine

BT

Williams

Raza

Madhevere

Burl

Elton

Muruma

Keeper No.7

Regis

Mutumbami

Spinner No.8

Chisoro

Shumba

By the looks of that I think we might see someone open who might not usually do so, or they'll make one of the keepers open, which will be a disaster as both of those guys have shown time and time again they're not up to it. The option to open with either Wes or BT might also come into calculations, and we could also see a return to the infamous '8-3' lineup which was used in Bangladesh.

Chamu

BT

Ervine

Williams

Wes

Raza

Elton/ Maruma

Mutumbami/ Regis

In all of this the sad thing is Kamunhukamwe looks like he will be the guy to miss out due due to Chamu being the captain.

You’re right, I thought they were. I guess I’m just used to them being named in squads despite their failures 😂😂😂

Even taking them out, it’s still a long jam for spots

andrewn9 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 16, 2020 11:57 am

Another practice match scorecard:

https://www.crichq.com/matches/856316/1st_innings

Ervine goes big. Finally some runs for Chibhabha. Shumba opened again. They're obviously toying with the idea of opening with him vs Pakistan. Ngarava has some doubters but he keeps picking up wickets. Akram expensive again. A good all round game for the Don.

Thanks mate! A rare failure for Chigs in recent times. Taylor struggling to buy a run still. Burl doing well again. The Don being The Don. Mutumbami having a nightmare too...

Good to see Ervine and Burl make some runs, and I guess Chamu as well 😐😐😐

BT hasn’t made a run in forever

The spinners seem to be struggling in these warm up games, I wonder if the pitches are a bit ‘harder & faster’ than we are accustomed to seeing in Zim? The seamers are the ones taking the wickets