Elton Chigumbura named Zimbabwe ODI and T20 captain

Elton Chigumbura

A slew of changes have been made to the Zimbabwean national team, on the basis of recommendations made by the cricket committee of Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) earlier this month. These recommendations were subsequently approved by ZC in the board meeting that took place on Thursday.

While Brendan Taylor will continue captaining the Test team, Zimbabwe all-rounder Elton Chigumbura has been made the captain of the ODI and T20 sides, as a result of the board’s inclination to split the captaincy across formats.

This is Chigumbura’s second crack at captaincy, having been captain in the shorter formats from May 2010 until March 2011. It was taken away from him at the time due to his patchy form with bat and ball and, instead, given to Brendan Taylor, who has been doing a reasonably good job.

Changes have also been announced to the coaching structure, with assistant coach Stephen Mangongo now being promoted to the role of head coach. Andy Waller, who had been the coach for the last 12 months or so, has been given a new role as National Director of Coaching, which will entail encouraging young coaches to come through in addition to focusing on cricket at the grassroots.

Mangongo, who is believed to have a fiery character, will assume charge of the national team beginning with the upcoming home series against South Africa, which is then, followed by an incredibly tough tri-series involving Australia and South Africa.