Sean Williams withdraws the retirement letter  he sent to Zimbabwe Cricket 

Days after shocking the cricketing world with his abrupt retirement, Zimbabwe middle-order batsman Sean Williams has taken a U-turn.

According to a report published in the Sunday Times, Williams has withdrawn the retirement letter he had sent to Zimbabwe Cricket ahead of the white-ball fixtures against Ireland.

Williams had stated in his letter that he would call it quits following the completion of a three-month notice period in November. However, the veteran middle-order batsman is now keen to complete the remaining period of his central contract which ends in eight months' time.

Lalchand Rajput to come under the scanner following a U-turn by Sean Williams?

Lalchand Rajput to come under the scanner following Sean Williams' U-turn?

The turn of events is likely to put a spotlight on Zimbabwe head coach Lalchand Rajput and the rest of the coaching staff.

While announcing his decision to retire prior to the end of the Ireland series, Sean Williams indicated that Rajput's mishandling of affairs was one of the reasons behind him taking such a drastic step. Speaking to Star FM Zimbabwe, Williams revealed:

''I can't see a way forward under coach [Lalchand] Rajput. The environment he has created in the team is bad. There is too much talking and backbiting which creates mistrust."

Rajput has had a disappointing stint as Zimbabwe head coach since his appointment in 2018.

I have always questioned why we cannot have an experienced Zimbabwean coach. We have so many talented coached who have cut their teeth coaching top international teams such as @englandcricket @TheRealPCB & others. Why is there this refusal #Zimbabwe #Cricket ? https://t.co/THnDoV3riq

— David Coltart (@DavidColtart) August 26, 2021

Under his supervision, Zimbabwe has won just 4 ODIs and 8 T20Is from 29 games in each format respectively.

Apart from Lalchand Rajput, members of the technical team - Stuart Matsikenyeri, Douglas Hondo and Shepherd Makunura - are also likely to come under the scanner.

As far as the ongoing T20I series against Ireland is concerned, Sean Williams hasn't found a place in the playing XI in the first couple of games.

The series stands locked at 1-1 with Zimbabwe winning their first game - a low-scoring nerve-jangler - by three runs. Ireland staged a comeback in the second match with a comfortable seven-wicket win. The third T20I will take place at Bready, North Ireland on September 1 and both sides will be hoping to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

It will be interesting to see whether Williams finds a place in the playing XI for the third T20I.

Six players have made more than two Test centuries in 2020-2021 (matches played):🏏 Joe Root 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 6 (19)🏏 Fawad Alam 🇵🇰 4 (10)🏏 Sean Williams 🇿🇼 3 (4)🏏 Mominul Haque 🇧🇩 3 (7)🏏 Kane Williamson 🇳🇿 3 (7)🏏 Dimuth Karunaratne 🇱🇰 3 (8)

— Michael Appleton 🗳 🏏 🇳🇿🤝🇱🇰 (@michelappleton) August 26, 2021

Sean Williams has represented Zimbabwe in 14 Tests, 136 ODIs and 47 T20Is, scoring 1034, 3958 and 945 runs respectively.