BY DANIEL NHAKANISO
ZIMBABWE Cricket (ZC) insist that national cricket team coach Lalchand Rajput (pictured) still has a running contract with the Chevrons despite reports that the former India player has agreed in principle to become the new coach of minnows Nepal.
Speculation regarding Rajput’s future started on Thursday after reports emerged in the South Asian nation suggesting that the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) is set to appoint Rajput as their new head coach.
CAN president Chatur Bahadur Chand was quoted by several media outlets in Nepal on Thursday confirming that the 58-year-old Zimbabwe coach had agreed in principle to take up the coaching role.
Nepal, who compete in the ICC World Cricket League Division Two, are searching for a foreign coach following the resignation of Umesh Patwal in February and have reportedly set their sights on Rajput to take over.
“Rajput has already agreed orally to come to Nepal, however, salary negotiations are still underway,” the CAN president Chand was quoted by the Nepali Sansar newspaper.
While Nepal seem confident that they’ve got their man, ZC board chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani insists that Rajput is still contracted with the local cricket governing body.
“Rajput is still contracted to us. He went back to India after the Bangladesh series and was not able to come back after the lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. He is still the Zimbabwe national cricket team coach and we are not privy to any other arrangements outside our contractual agreement,” Mukuhlani said.
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Rajput was appointed as the substantive head coach of Zimbabwe in August 2018, after the former India international stepped into the role on an interim basis two months earlier.
During his two-year tenure as Zimbabwe coach, Rajput has achieved mixed results, with the highlight of his reign coming in November 2018 when the Chevrons stunned Bangladesh by 151 runs in a Test match in Sylhet.
The Indian coach’s tenure has been overshadowed by Zimbabwe’s poor form in ODI cricket.
The poor form resulted in Zimbabwe plunging behind world cricket minnows Oman and Netherlands to position 14 on the ICC men’s ODI rankings.
Zimbabwe last registered an ODI series victory in May last year when they beat the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at Harare Sports Club last April before going on to lose their last eight consecutive ODIs.
The losing streak includes successive ODI series losses in Netherlands and Ireland which contributed significantly to the team’s dramatic plunge on the global rankings.
Rajput, who reportedly signed a one-year contract extension with ZC early this year, is expected to lead the Chevrons in a limited-overs series against Afghanistan next month and a tour of Australia in August subject to approval by the government and respective opponents.
India called off their tour of the country in August due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but ZC remains confident that the series will be rescheduled to a later date as it forms part of the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League.
