Zimbabwe all-rounder Sean Williams on Tuesday (September 17) urged his teammates to set aside whatever is going on behind the scenes and only focus on their job for the betterment of the national team has been winless in the ongoing Tri-Series in Bangladesh.
Williams referred to the ongoing crisis on Zimbabwean cricket after ICC suspended full membership of Zimbabwe Cricket Board (ZC) for the government interference in cricket.
Having lost two T20 Internationals in the ongoing Tri-Series, Zimbabwe is all set to take on Bangladesh on September 19 in their next match and Williams believes that the hosts are now under pressure after a defeat against Afghanistan and they will have a great to chance to outsmart the Tigers in Chattogram.
On the eve of the match, Williams told media: “It is definitely. Like I said, if we focus on what we need to do, everything will take care of itself. They are under pressure, we know that. But you know again it goes back to us doing the basics. I think Bangladesh is a very strong team all around. They have got a very good structure going all the way down to the club levels. T20 cricket can go either way.”
The all-rounder continued, “Like I said, fine margins. You know, they have got some very very good players, some very experienced campaigners. They have Shakib, Mahmudullah, Mushi. You know they are all very good players and we respect that fact. So, no game we are ever going to take lightly. We would just like to go out there, focus on our own things and do what is required for our team.”
While both teams have two matches each to stake their claim for the finals spot with Bangladesh has won a game in the Tri-Series, Sean stressed the senior players will have to lead by example and urged to step-up to make the mark in the ongoing T20I series.
He further added, “What we do as senior players are important as a backbone of the team to teach them for the future. Obviously, there has been a few of us under-performing of late. So, we need to step up as a senior group and obviously get the junior following. They got us out of trouble twice now. If the seniors can step up i.e. Craig [Ervine], myself, Brendan is showing signs of very good form on its way. So, yeah, if we can step up, I think we have a very good chance.”
On Zimbabwe’s suspension, Williams said they have learned a lot from the event and Bangladesh series has been a good opportunity for the team to bond and put on a united front. He further added, “It is extremely important. Obviously, we have learned a lot from what we have been through. And I think you can see the team starting to bond more and more and come together more as a unit.”
After the end of the Bangladesh Tri-Series, Zimbabwe will next travel to Singapore for a Tri-nation series involving Nepal as well in September-October, and Williams is looking forward to taking over from retiring Hamilton Masakadza.
He signed off, “Obviously leading up to the Singapore series with the young guys coming to join the squad, a couple of the senior guys going across to Singapore, I think it is going to be exciting. I really look forward to having those junior guys coming through the ranks. They are really showing signs, some of them could be world-class players. I wish them all the very best and hopefully, we can watch them go all the way.”
(With Cricbuzz Inputs)
