National cricket team captain Brendan Taylor is not disappointed about missing out on India’s ongoing premier Twenty20 (T20) cricket tournament, the Indian Premier League (IPL).
While acknowledging that it was a huge motivation to be playing in the IPL for any cricketer, Taylor felt the national team was in a transition phase having come out of isolation from International Cricket Council Futures Tour Programme.
A total of 27 national team players put their names forward for the IPL player auction in January, but none made the grade, including Taylor, who had previously featured in T20 tournaments in New Zealand and Bangladesh.
“It is certainly not upsetting not to be part of IPL, but the goal for any cricketer, including a Zimbabwean, is to play there and make a mark,” said Taylor in an interview with the Times of India. The aggressive right-handed batsman was speaking during the sidelines of the Heath Streak Corporation Bank Mohtisham T20 International Cricket Cup — a charity T20 cricket match organised by for former Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak’s Charity Foundation in Mangalore, India.
Taylor said the Board of Control for Cricket in India in general and international cricketing fraternity in particular, was looking for consistency from Zimbabwean cricketers over a sustained period.
“IPL has shown players need to adapt to this version of the game that is slowly yet steadily gaining in popularity,” Taylor said, adding Zimbabweans Alistair Campbell and Mpumelelo Mbangwa were part of IPL, albeit in a different role as commentators.
On his team’s chances in ICC World T20 which Sri Lanka is scheduled to host in September-Taylor said: “We are in a tough group with the hosts and South Africa. We will prepare in the run-up to the T20 World Cup with a five-game T20 series against South Africa.”
On Zimbabwe’s return to Test cricket, Taylor said it had been a massive boost.
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“We must reap the rewards of the return and keep climbing up the ladder. The country has some talented age-group cricketers who are a positive asset,” said Taylor, adding the team had embarked on long-term team building process to ensure there was natural succession as seniors bowed out. “We are training hard and believing in ourselves,” he said.
