BY MUNYARADZI MADZOKERE
TEENAGE Zimbabwe cricket star Wesley Madhevere has set his sights on winning the country an ICC World Cup tournament after making his senior One-Day International (ODI) debut in March this year.
It was an eventful start to the year for the talented young all-rounder, who represented Zimbabwe at the ICC Under-19 World Cup hosted by South Africa in January and February.
The cricket prodigy struck two half centuries and captured eight wickets at the youth World Cup before he was fast-tracked into the national team, which was touring Bangladesh.
And with three ODIs under his belt, Madhevere already has a half century and two wickets.
He reflects on his senior debut as well as targets with the national team in an interview with Standardsport.
“I want to win the World Cup for Zimbabwe, that is what I want to achieve. And I know everything is possible,” Madhevere said.
“Getting a senior team call-up was unbelievable. It happened so fast and getting a chance to represent my country at this age is a dream come true.
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“It is a big step for me. I have always had a vision and I have always wanted to play for my country at a younger age, but I wasn’t sure it was going to be this early. I am grateful for the chance I’ve been given. It was beyond everything I had ever imagined.”
Having shown a lot of promise in the junior teams for the past four years, Madhevere became only the fourth teenager to break into the senior team.
Other players include Luke Jongwe (2014), Richard Ngarava (2017) and Liam Roche (2018), but all have failed to pin down a permanent place in the squad.
Madhevere scored an impressive 35 runs from 44 balls, the highest on the Zimbabwe batting card, on debut batting in the middle of the order as the team lost by 169 runs.
He also trapped Bangladeshi opener Tamim Iqbal lbw for his first ODI wicket.
Two days later, Madhevere was Zimbabwe’s third top scorer with 52 runs from 57 balls in a narrow four-run defeat to the same opponents.
And yet he feels he could have done better.
“My performance on debut and the other matches against Bangladesh was okay, but I could have done better,” he said.
However, the Covid-19 pandemic denied the young cricketer a chance to enjoy more international cricket with a number of tours for Zimbabwe having been cancelled.
But Madhevere hopes that he will be able to pick up from where he left of when action resumes.
“I cannot predict the future, but I am confident that with work that I am doing during the lockdown, I will be ready to go again when this is over. I am doing a lot of exercises and some batting and bowling drills to keep myself sharp,” he said.
Madhevere is one of the few players, who have had the privilege to play at three different ICC Under-19 World Cups and he credits the experience for his growth.
“It is a very competitive tournament. There’s always pressure, but it prepares you because that’s the level of intensity you will find in international cricket. It makes you grow as a cricketer and it’s the perfect platform for international cricket especially for budding players,” said Madhevere.
Madhevere expressed gratitude to everyone who has coached him in his career and made a special mention of personal coach Malcolm Chikuwa as well as his family.
