THE Zimbabwe senior men’s cricket team returned to training at Harare Sports Club for the first time since its historic run at the T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka and India, where it reached the Super Eight stage for the first time in the team’s history.
Head coach Justin Sammons said the squad is now channelling the confidence from hat campaign in Asia into preparations for a busy period that starts with a full home series against Bangladesh.
The longer-term target, he said, is the 2027 World Cup, which Zimbabwe will co-host alongside Namibia and South Africa.
“We’re obviously really happy with the way we performed, but I think the goal now is to do better come the Home World Cup in 2027,” Sammons told NewsDay Sport.
“I think that’s a big focus now, to make the nation proud. I think that’s driving the players and the group.”
Sammons said the immediate priority is incremental improvement as the team enters a condensed schedule.
“As we head into quite a busy period now, I obviously look to keep improving game by game.”
The coach identified Bangladesh’s pace attack as a key test for Zimbabwe’s batters, citing their recent 2-0 series win over Pakistan as evidence of progress.
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“Obviously, when you’re playing at home against Bangladesh, we want to try and utilise as much of pace and balance as we can,” Sammons said.
“However, having said that, they’ve got a really good seam attack. As you can see, they’ve just beaten Pakistan 2-0.
“They’ve really been trying to upskill in that department and it’s definitely paid off. They’re definitely one of the better attacks at the moment.”
He added that Zimbabwe would look to respond in kind with its own bowling plans.
“So it’s going to be a good challenge for our batters, but certainly we’re going to front up there and try and produce something that makes it just as hard for their batters.”
Zimbabwe’s qualification for the Super Eight marked its deepest run at a T20 World Cup.
The Bangladesh series will be the team’s first major home assignment since that campaign, with Sammons using the block of matches to build squad depth and match readiness ahead of 2027.
The Bangladesh tour is set for June and July.
The series comprises one Test match, three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) and three Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is).
The lone Test match will kickstart the series at Harare Sports Club from June 28 to July 2 with the three-match One Day International series following on July 6, 9 and 11 at the same venue.
The tour will then move to Bulawayo, where Queens Sports Club will host the T20I series on July 15, 17 and 19.
