Eden Park bears a somber look. It’s not bustling with the World Cup fever nor do advertisement hoardings scream of a World event. Amidst the quiet, team Zimbabwe make their way to the practice nets, hit a few off the middle, enjoy a quiet chat with their teammates and pose for a few fans who are sporting Zimbabwe’s 1992 World Cup jerseys. Coach Dav Whatmore is taking a close look at the proceedings from the sidelines and has a few words of advice for his team.
Zimbabwe have had a tough time this World Cup after registering just one win in the five games so far. They have put up decent performances with the bat, but have been unable to turn a few results in their favour. Whatmore insisted that his team could only improve if they played a lot more.
“The problem is that we haven’t had enough matches,” he said. “If we had enough matches then I am sure certain defining moments, we would be equal to it. We would not be going home on Sunday. We would be playing in the second round. But the World Cup has been a good experience.”
As Zimbabwe look to end their World Cup campaign on a high, the big news is that they are about to miss the services of Brendan Taylor after the World Cup. Taylor will be heading to Nottinghamshire as a Kolpak player and the Zimbabwe coach said that a player of Taylor’s caliber would be missed in the line-up. “It is true we will be missing Brendan Taylor, who is going to Nottingham, and they are very lucky to have him.
Despite that, we feel we have got a number of players who make this team really strong in terms of what they offer,” Whatmore said.
“I’ve been with this team on a day to day basis. And I have had a lot of experience working with teams. I can honestly say that the potential that exists with this Zimbabwe team is exciting.”
Talking about Saturday’s game against India, Whatmore was all praise for India’s bowling attack that has managed to bowl out all their opponents in the competition so far. “It is a team that is bowling the opposition out frequently and that has been a big plus for India. Their batting talent has never really been in question. What was needed was a good, strong bowling performance and they have done that.”
Whatmore, who coached the 2008 U-19 India World Cup squad that had the likes of Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja, said it was great to see them doing well for India. “Like any young player, if you are involved in their development, it is always nice to see progress. To be very honest with you, I was only there for a short period of time but the time I spent with them was enjoyable. It wasn’t difficult to see that they had potential to go on and it is nice to see they have realised it. There is still more for them to do.
“Virat Kohli is confident. He was confident also as an under-19 captain. But, there have been many examples of confident young players who don’t follow up and follow through. He is one who has,” Whatmore said.
