Zimbabwe coach upbeat after Test win
Zimbabwe coach Lalchand Rajput said Tuesday’s 151-run rout of Bangladesh would restore some confidence in their cricket after years languishing at the bottom of the Test rankings.
The visitors bowled out Bangladesh for 169 runs in Sylhet, notching up not just their first Test victory in five years but the first away from home in nearly 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 321run target on day four.
Rajput, a former opener for India 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 said.
“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.
“We have started believing that we can not only win at home, we can win abroad as well,” Rajput said.
“This is the first step and we need to kick on from here.”
Bangladesh were embarrassed by the fourth successive Test loss in which they failed to cross the 200-run mark.
“If we continue to play like this, definitely we could have an image problem,” said stand-in skipper Mahmudullah Riyad.
The second Test starts in Dhaka on November 11.