India vs Zimbabwe 2016: 18-man Zimbabwe squad - All you need to know
Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) announced their One-Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) squads for the series against India starting on June 11. The revamped team will have Makhaya Ntini as the interim coach and will be led by Graeme Cremer.
Leg-spinner Cremer has replaced Hamilton Masakadza at the helm, who had a forgettable outing in India as the skipper. Masakadza, however, continues to be a part of both the squads that will take on India, but the new captain’s deputy will be wicketkeeper-batsman Richmond Mutumbami.
The Zimbabwe team will have a slightly depleted new ball attack with forced absence of fast bowler Tinashe Panyangara due to an injury. All-rounder Ryan Burl was also not selected after he picked up an injury during the training camp in Bulawayo while playing Rugby. Panyangara has been referred to a neurologist for further monitoring after he felt pain in his right lower back during a training session.
The host team also has several changes in the support staff, with Dav Whatmore having been sacked for Makhaya Ntini. The legendary South African cricketer Lance Klusener and former Zimbabwean wicket-keeper Tatenda Taibu also joined the squad in the roles of batting consultant and convenor respectively.
The tour will consist of three ODIs and the same number of T20s, starting from on Saturday with all matches to be played at the Harare Sports Club. The six matches will be played over 12 days, with the last T20 on June 22 and the Zimbabwean men will look to put up a strong fight against a considerably inexperienced Indian side.
We have a look at their 18-man squad as the number 10 ranked ODI team hosts number 2 side.
#1 Graeme Cremer
Personal Information
Full name: Alexander Graeme Cremer
Born: September 19, 1986
Birthplace: Harare
Current age: 29 years 265 days
Role: Bowler
Batting style: Right-hand bat
Bowling style: Right-arm leg-break
International debut: vs Sri Lanka, October 11, 2004
Career Statistics
Batting Career
Matches played: Tests - 11, ODIs - 61, T20s - 24
Runs scored: Tests - 216, ODIs - 519, T20s - 57
Batting average: Tests - 10.8, ODIs - 16.74, T20s - 5.70
Bowling Career
Matches played: Tests - 11, ODIs - 61, T20s - 24
Wickets Taken: Tests - 24, ODIs - 74, T20s - 32
Economy rate: Tests - 4.07, ODIs - 4.74, T20s - 6.72
Profile and recent form
Graeme Cremer is a man blessed with a lot of talent and a very strong mind. Being a leg spinner, he has chosen the hardest skill of the game to master but showed enough promise to get him into the national team at an early age of 18 years.
He bagged his career best Test figures of 4-4 against Bangladesh in April 2013 at the Harare and helped Zimbabwe thrash Bangladesh by a whopping margin of 335 runs.
Cremer has also shown talent in his batting at few instances which give Zimbabwe a rare luxury. He scored a total of 203 runs in his last 18 innings with his highest score as 58 runs. His bowling figures in the same number of innings are a tinge better than that of his batting with 21 wickets including a 5-wicket haul against Afghanistan.
The current Zimbabwe captain missed the World T20 this year due to a fracture in his left forearm and has a tough task to follow against India as a leader.