Sports
|
||||
|
Taibu set to become youngest ever Test skipper HARARE,
April 3 (AFP) - Tiny though he is in stature, Tatenda Taibu is about
to hit the big time by becoming the youngest Test captain in the
history of cricket. With
Heath Streak having sensationally quit as Zimbabwe skipper on Friday,
20-year-old vice-captain Taibu was immediately installed by the
Zimbabwe Cricket Union (ZCU) as his successor. Now
he is set to overtake the record currently held by the Nawab of
Pataudi, who was 21 years 77 days old when he first captained India
in the West Indies in 1961-62. Taibu
won't be 21 until May 14 - Zimbabwe's first Test against Sri Lanka
in Harare starts on May 6. By
that time, Taibu will already have broken the one-day record for
the youngest skipper. That
honour currently belongs to Waqar Younis who was 21 years and 354
days when he led out Pakistan against the West Indies at Sharjah
in 1993-94. "I
would say I am a middle-order batsman and a bubbly wicketkeeper
with a lot to say," said Taibu. A
multi-talented sportsman, first picked for Zimbabwe at the age of
16, Taibu has lost both parents and taken over much of the responsibility
for bringing up six brothers and sisters. Taibu
plays a straight bat to questions about his country's political
troubles. "Playing
a sport like cricket and the professionalism involved with the sport,
I have to forget about whatever is happening in Zimbabwe,"
he said. "I
just have to concentrate on what I have got in hand, which is playing
cricket for my country. "The
best thing I can do for my people is to play good cricket. "I
know if I play cricket well, I am representing a lot of people back
home, and that is great." Taibu has admitted that he became
a wicket-keeper by accident. "I
was playing for a team called the Strugglers XI and the wicket-keeper
did not turn up so I volunteered," he told AFP recently. "Bill
Flower (father of former Zimbabwe keeper Andy), who was watching,
said I had good hands and feet. He later gave me a pair of Andy's
gloves. Up
until that point he had been an off-spinner. But in many ways the
switch from slow bowler to stumper was the least remarkable aspect
of Taibu's cricket career which began in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare. "I
started off playing cricket at Chipembere Primary School when I
was eight," Taibu said. "We
used to play during break-time. There were no nets, just trees with
stumps painted on. But I never batted because the big boys pushed
me out of the way." Nevertheless, a chance to receive proper
coaching, in good facilities, was at hand if Taibu could collect
one of the four annual cricket scholarships offered by Churchill
High School. However,
just before the scholarship exam, disaster struck. "I injured
my arm so I couldn't hold a bat properly. I didn't get the scholarship."
But fate intervened. A businessman, whose son had played alongside
Taibu, provided funds so that Stuart Matsikenyeri - also now a Zimbabwe
international - was promoted to a full scholarship and Taibu took
his place. Taibu's
international debut came in 2001 and his lively keeping and bold
batting were both features of Zimbabwe's march to the second phase
of last year's World Cup. Since
his Test debut against the West Indies in Bulawayo in 2001, Taibu
has played 14 matches making 599 runs, hitting a highest score of
83 and claiming 30 victims behind the stumps. He also has 54 one-day international caps to his name with 640 runs and a highest socre of 74. He also has 51 victims with his gloves. |
||||
Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
