ZIMBABWE Cricket captain and top order batsman Hamilton Masakadza has hailed the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) for establishing a highly competitive domestic structure which has been growing in leaps and bounds in the last few years.
BY MUNYARADZI MADZOKERE
Masakadza — one of the most experienced players in the Zimbabwe team — is in the subcontinent country where he is turning out for struggling Kalabagan Krira Chakra (KKC) in the Dhaka Premier League.
“The structure of Bangladesh cricket is far better than it was before. Moreover, there is incredible competition going on in the domestic structure of Bangladesh Cricket regularly,” he said in interview with a Bangladesh cricket publication CricFrenzy last week.
“As a result, there is the continuation of high productive talented cricketers here, which is why Bangladesh cricket is now far better than Zimbabwe cricket nowadays. The credit should be given to BCB for that,” continued the Zimbabwean cricketer.
The story of Zimbabwe and Bangladesh cricket is one of strikingly contrasting fortunes, with the latter having experienced astounding transformation in the past decade while the former ebbed to its lowest.
Bangladesh — minnows in international cricket at the turn of the millennium — is currently ranked seventh on the ICC One Day International (ODI) standings ahead of giants West Indies and Pakistan.
They have already qualified for the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy where only the eight best ODI cricket nations compete and are poised to qualify automatically for the 2019 ICC World Cup competition.
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On the other hand, domestic cricket in Zimbabwe is seemingly in intensive care, a factor which had adversely affected the national team’s performances on the international stage.
Zimbabwe has twice failed to beat ICC associate nations to qualify for the main draw of the last two World T20 events and also have to qualify for the next World Cup while a 11th position on the ODI rankings mean they can’t make the Champions Trophy next year.
“In a very short space of time Bangladesh cricket has been able to become successful, which we [Zimbabwe] could not. But another reason behind their success is the determination and passion of their players besides board’s good work,” Masakadza said.
Masakadza and all-rounder Sean Williams are the only two Zimbabweans currently playing in the 12-team Dhaka Premier League this year.
Williams is playing for Brothers Union while Masakadza is in the KKC books alongside Bangladesh captains Mashrafe Mortaza
