Test win will boost Zimbabwe: Coach Rajput

Zimbabwe coach Lalchand Rajput said yesterday’s 151-run rout of Bangladesh would restore some confidence in their cricket after years languishing at the dead bottom of the Test rankings.

The visitors bowled Bangladesh for 169 in Sylhet, notching not just their first Test victory in five years but the first away from home in close to two decades.

Debutant leg-spinner Brandon Mavuta and Sikandar Raza shared seven wickets between them in a dazzling display as Zimbabwe left the hosts chasing a sizeable 321-run target on day four.

Rajput, a former Indian opener who took over as coach in May, said breaking the streak was important to revive Zimbabwean cricket.

“Teams around the world will know that Zimbabwe is getting back to the team they were earlier,” he told reporters after the win.

“If you look at Zimbabwean cricket in the 90s, they had a fantastic team. This win will definitely revive that, bring the confidence of the players.”

He said persistence by Zimbabwe’s cricket board, despite a years-long streak of humiliating losses, had paid off.

“They have been patient, and now the day has come. I am sure everyone back home, the Zimbabwe board, the public and the whole country will be proud of this,” he said.

Zimbabwe last won a Test match in 2013 when they beat Pakistan by 24 runs in Harare, and ranks comfortably last on the ICC Test ladder.

They had not won a Test away since 2001 when they beat Bangladesh in Chittagong. They also failed to make the World Cup after losing qualifying matches on home soil in March.

“We have started believing that we cannot only win at home, we can win abroad as well,” Rajput said.