City captain to miss rest of the season after head injury
BULAWAYO City captain, Zibusiso “Mzimara” Sibanda has been ruled out for the rest of the season after a head injury during a league match landed him in hospital on Saturday.
Sibanda was injured in a clash of heads with teammate and fellow centre back, Nyasha Mukumbi during their side’s heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Ngezi Platinum Stars in the Castle Lager Premiership at Barbourfields Stadium.
Early reports suggested that Sibanda had suffered a fractured forehead and these were yesterday confirmed by City team manager, Edmund Tizirayi Luphahla.
Luphahla said the first set of scans done on Saturday at Mpilo Hospital were X-rays which revealed cracks on the player’s forehead. He said the scans had also shown that the defender had a depression on his skull which led to a decision by the consulting neurologist to have Sibanda taken for a CT scan.
Sibanda is still admitted to Mpilo Hospital where his condition is said to be stable.
“When he was initially admitted on Saturday, Mzimara was X-rayed then seen by a neurologist who ordered CT scans to be done. Initially they were supposed to be done yesterday, but they will now be done tomorrow afternoon (today).
“The CT scans will enable the doctors to rule any form of damage to the brain itself or blood vessels,” said Luphahla.
The City team manager also said doctors had advised the club against playing Sibanda for the rest of the season whatever the outcome of the CT scans.
“Yesterday doctors that have been attending to Mzimara round the clock told us that we must not make plans around the player for the remainder of the season. We hope he will recover but we don’t want to take risks,” Luphahla said.
Sibanda has been instrumental in City’s Chibuku Super Cup run and is one of head coach Mandla Mpofu’s trump cards.
“Mzimara’s injury is a huge blow for us because he has been one of the most consistent players in our team. Considering the results that we’ve been getting, I think he could have easily made it into the country’s top 11 players at the end of the season. We are praying for a miracle to happen to him and hope that he quickly recovers. The fears are that since he heads the ball with his forehead and as such we can’t risk him,” said Mpofu.
Sibanda, a former Caps United defender will miss tomorrow’s match against How Mine.
Mpofu will have to juggle around with his defence. The central defenders that Mpofu has at his disposal are Mukumbi, Zephaniah Ngodzo and Douglas Sibanda. — @ZililoR
With the country set to host elections next year, there have been concern by some within the cricket family — who have always been opposed to Zimbabwe — about the suitability of hosting both the ICC 2019 Cricket World Cup Qualifiers and Annual Conference here.
But the ICC have given Zimbabwe the nod to go ahead and prepare for the hosting of the two major events on its soil next year which are likely to be a huge test for the country’s cricket authorities’ ability to put together events of such magnitude without challenges.
ICC cricket chairman Shanshank Manohar spent five days in this country recently on an official visit in which he paid courtesy calls on the country’s leadership and met the game’s authorities.
The visit was meant to lay a foundation for further co-operation between the ICC and Zimbabwe Cricket and was described by the ZC managing director Failsal Hasnain, whom reports suggest he took a significant pay cut to take the job because of his passion to help local cricket turn the corner and leave a legacy, as a milestone.
“We are delighted to host the ICC chairman in Zimbabwe. His visit is, without any doubt, an important milestone for ZC that will help shape the future of the game in the country,” he said.
Manohar, who was in the company of his wife during the visit in August, also visited the country’s biggest tourist attraction, the Victoria Falls.
He is expected to continue as the ICC leader until, at least, June next year.