Veteran Zimbabwe batsman Hamilton Masakadza has on Tuesday (September 10) expressed gratitude towards Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) for offering the opportunity to his team to resume cricket.
Since their suspension by the ICC in July 2019, Zimbabwe is all set to make their first appearance on the field in the upcoming Tri-Nation T20I series in Bangladesh, involving Afghanistan as well, thanks to BCB for their support to be given go-ahead for the tournament.
And Masakadza, who Zimbabwe captain who will retire from the game after the upcoming tri-nation series in Bangladesh, thanked the BCB for giving them second chance.
Zimbabwe’s suspension has been preventing the country from playing in any ICC tournaments, which means their chances of being involved in the World T20 Qualifiers has ended, but they can still participate in bilateral or trilateral events.
Masakadza told reporters at Mirpur, “Bangladesh has shown a lot of support to us. We are very grateful to the Bangladesh Cricket Board that they have given us the opportunity to play cricket again. Important thing is now we are playing and looking forward to get back on the field and playing again.”
The 36-year-old also expects a stiff challenge from Bangladesh following their Test defeat to Afghanistan, although, he was not surprised by Rashid Khan and his team’s show here.
He continued, “T20 is obviously played in different conditions. In Test cricket, toss plays an important role. T20 cricket is played on much better wickets and is a shorter format, so we can expect a tough challenge. I am not surprised at Afghanistan's performance. On this kind of a wicket, winning the toss helps you in winning the game because they have got quality spinners.”
Meanwhile, Masakadza was hopeful of Zimbabwe making it into the final of the Tri-series, as he feels the T20 format suits his team the best. He added, “Obviously, we want to make it to the final because this is our strongest suit. The guys are really confident and upbeat about the chances. We have some success here as well. Chances are very high but obviously we will be playing against two high-quality teams and we want to go all the way.”
He will bring down the curtains on his 18-year-old international career with this series to focus on his life, having represented Zimbabwe in 38 Tests, 204 ODIs and 57 T20Is since his debut in 2001,
Masakadza signed off by saying, “Definitely it has been a long tough road for me. Enjoyed every moment representing my country. Still a work in progress but I want to slow down. Next series is after the T20 World Cup early next year, so I wanted to step down and focus on myself.”
(With Cricbuzz Inputs)
