Elton Chigumbura believes that team camaraderie has significantly improved in the Zimbabwe camp

Elton Chigumbura is aspiring to revamp Zimbabwe cricket

The Zimbabwe cricket team has frequently battled the sordid mess of including black players for fulfilling quota purposes in the national squad. Ever since Robert Mugabe stormed into power, their national team's fortunes has dwindled rapidly with the captaincy often being reduced to a poisoned chalice. Current captain Elton Chigumbura emphasized on the significance of establishing a harmonic dressing room environment, according to ESPNCricinfo.

In this regard, Zimbabwe's preparations for the series against the visiting Pakistan team comprised of an introspection session at a game park near Gweru wherein the week was spent interacting with each other and shedding inhibitions about the challenges that lay ahead.

Chigumbura enthused, "It was a good getaway when we went to Gweru. I thought we managed to iron out things that were hanging a bit in our team. It's a process, and we're going to try and implement what we got from Gweru, from the psychologist, and hopefully we can build from there. Usually we only meet during training or matches and during the time we spent together away in Gweru we got to understand each other on a deeper level.

Problematic death overs bowling and Utseya’s comeback

Whatever went on in the game park seems to have had its effects with a visible sense of enjoyment on the players' faces during their pre-match training session on Friday. Chigumbura reiterated, "The way we've trained so far, I think everyone is going in the right direction. It's going to be important to be tested through tough times as a team, and it will be good practice to play against Pakistan. It's something that we're still working on. Hopefully we'll get over the line in this series if we have a chance of winning the game."

An additional aspect of their game-play which needs enhancement is their death bowling. Former fast bowler and now the bowling coach, Douglas Hondo, felt that picking up wickets in the middle overs would ultimately curtail the pressure which often accompanies on the bowlers who bowl the end overs. He stated that the team management was working on different combinations of pace and spin to snaffle the batsmen during the middle overs which would ensure a breathing space for the captain as the innings winds up.

Hondo also emphatically refuted suggestions that Prosper Utseya, coming back into national colours after re-modeling his bowling action, could struggle to control the flow of things as has been the case with bowlers such as Saeed Ajmal and Sachitra Senanayake who have struggled to get accustomed to their refurbished actions. He expressed confidence that Utseya would still be effective with his experience and ability to contribute to all departments of the game.