After yet another series of almosts and if-onlys, Zimbabwe’s batting coach Andy Waller has suggested that the team may simply not be “hungry enough” for victory. From the World Cup, to their tour of Pakistan, the close call against India, the opportunities versus New Zealand and the most recent series against Pakistan, Zimbabwe have not often been able to convert dominant positions into tangible results. Have Zimbabwe just become used to losing?
“We had a good sit-down after one of the games, we were allowed to thrash it out, and my one real feeling was that I don’t see that we want it enough,” Waller said. “We’re not hungry enough. We’ve just got to be hungrier than the opposition. When you’re playing against a side like Pakistan or New Zealand, who we know are stronger than us, to me there are two ways you can beat them. One: you can try and out-think them. Two: you have to want it more than the opposition.
“And at the moment, to be honest, I don’t see that want. That hunger. So we talk about it, and I’m hoping that with the help of Dav [Whatmore] and everyone that we can get that back. But at times, we don’t look like we want it as badly as we should want it. It’s a worry.”
Another worry for Waller has been Zimbabwe’s handling of spin bowling during Pakistan’s visit. After left-arm spinner Imad Wasim’s combined haul of 5 for 25 in the two T20I matches, Zimbabwe lost all 10 wickets to spin in the first one-day international, with legspinner Yasir Shah taking 6 for 26, and nine in the third including Bilal Asif’s 5 for 25 in just his second international.
“We’ve lost 19 wickets to spin in two [one-day] games, but up until this series spin hasn’t really been a worry for us,” Waller said. “We played spin well at the World Cup, we played well in Pakistan. Admittedly the wickets weren’t great in the T20s and the first one-dayer, but that’s not an excuse. If you look at how the guys got out, it was just really poor shot selection.
“Whether it’s pressure or what it is, it’s hard for me to pinpoint. After playing spin really well this year, we’ve practiced hard in the last two weeks and we’ve got a lot of spin bowlers bowling to us in the nets and it hasn’t looked like we have a problem. And then all of a sudden we do it in the middle.
