With frontline bowler Blessing Muzarabani and the experienced Tendai Chatara absent because of injury‚ more questions will be asked of Zimbabwe’s bowling in the white ball home series against Bangladesh starting at Harare Sports Club on Saturday.
The pair who are Zimbabwe’s frontline seam bowlers suffered injuries during the ICC T20 World Cup qualifying competition held in Bulawayo recently in what should provide a stern test to the team’s bowling depth.
Muzarabani will be out for about four weeks after sustaining a muscle injury while Chatara has been ruled out of the Bangladesh, India and Australia series and is also likely to miss the T-20 World Cup.
In the pair’s absence, Zimbabwe Cricket selectors have called up the pair of Victor Nyauchi and Brad Evans to the squad which is preparing to take on Bangladesh.
They will join Richard Ngarava and Luke Jongwe as the other seam bowlers in the squad.
Nyauchi and Evans will be seeking to take the opportunity to cement their places in the squad after making their T20 debuts against Namibia in Bulawayo in May.
They have not played in the 50-over format for Zimbabwe but will be looking to make an impact against a tough Bangladesh side.
Zimbabwe is also expected to strengthen their batting line-up by recalling batsman Tarisai Musakanda who last played an ODI match against Pakistan in 2018.
He last pulled on the national team shirt in T20 cricket against Bangladesh last year before personal issues threatened to derail his career.
The 27-year-old right-handed batsman will have a shot at redemption in the Bangladesh series where the two nations will play three T-20 matches and a similar number of One-Day Internationals.
The home series against Bangladesh will get underway with the two T20I matches on Saturday and Sunday before the third one on Tuesday.
The two nations will square off in three ODIs before India make their first visit to Zimbabwe in six years.
The Zimbabwe team will then travel to Australia for another three-match ODI series in August before returning to the same country for the ICC T20 World Cup in October.