Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. THE Zimbabwe Chevrons are scrambling to regroup and put their house in order as they shift their focus to a high-stakes T20 Tri-Series in Pakistan later this month, following a demoralising 3-0 home whitewash at the hands of Afghanistan.
The three-match T20 series, which concluded at Harare Sports Club on Sunday, served as a stark reminder of the work ahead for the Chevrons, who were largely outclassed by the formidable Afghan side.
While the hosts were blown away in the first two encounters, losing by 53 runs and seven wickets respectively, they managed to put up a more valiant fight in the final match, eventually going down by nine runs.
It was a forgettable series for Zimbabwe’s batting department, which managed a solitary half-century in three innings — a 51 scored by captain Sikandar Raza in Sunday’s defeat. The bowlers, too, struggled, managing only 12 Afghan scalps across the three matches.
With the Tri-Series featuring hosts Pakistan and Sri Lanka—two teams equally strong in this format — the Chevrons face a tough baptism of fire just weeks before the event.
Zimbabwe will face Pakistan on November 17 at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium, before taking on Sri Lanka two days later at the same venue. They play Pakistan again on November 23 at Gaddafi Stadium, concluding the group matches with Sri Lanka two days later, also in Lahore.
Speaking on the upcoming assignment and the lessons learnt, Chevrons’ captain Sikandar Raza acknowledged the need for swift adaptation. “The lessons we have learned in this, I learned a valuable lesson as well, that under different conditions, different oppositions, you try and learn to skin the cat differently,” he said.
Raza highlighted the high-scoring grounds in Pakistan as the primary challenge, particularly for his bowling attack. “The Pindi [Rawalpindi] is apparently the second-highest run-scoring ground in the world if you look at the stats. So we’re going to hopefully try and restrict them to as little as possible because it is a high-scoring ground. So the challenge is on the bowlers to not leak or try and contain the opposition to a low score,” he said.
Conversely, the batter-friendly conditions present an opportunity. “For batters, if you’re batting first, then try and take full advantage of that. Lahore is also a high-scoring ground. I’m really excited for the next series. Why? Because we’re going to a place where it is wickets and runs galore,” Raza added, admitting he expects an action-packed series.
Looking ahead to the 2026 ICC T20 World Cup, the captain stressed the urgency of achieving consistent, complete team performances.
“I think the next few months are very crucial,” Raza said.
“Because I feel like we have departments firing within the game, but we haven’t got a complete game yet.”
He believes the upcoming T20 fixtures are essential to finding the missing pieces of the puzzle. “The more T20 games we play, I think those missing puzzles, those complete team performances, I think we will form that puzzle,” he said. “It is very important that we try and get those things right as quickly as possible, so that when we get to the World Cup, Zimbabwe is going to the World Cup with a winning habit and not just still trying to work at things.”
The Chevrons will need to find that winning habit quickly if they are to successfully navigate the highly competitive Tri-Series and build momentum towards their ultimate goal.
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