IPL 2018: 3 Zimbabwean players who were once a part of the IPL
April 18, 2008, the day that changed the landscape of the world cricket forever. Indian Premier League just turned 10-years old last month. From that particular day, the months of April-May have become like the ‘summer festival’ for most of the Indians. Players all around the world gather over a period of 7-8 weeks for this spectacle.
IPL provides the platform for young uncapped Indian players to rub shoulders with the world’s best cricketers. Everybody loves the David vs. Goliath story. That is the reason why fans are delighted to see some unknown players from Afghanistan dominating the world’s richest league.
Similar to Afghanistan, there exists a nation called Zimbabwe, which was the Afghanistan of the early 2000s. With Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) in crisis, let us look at some of their great times specifically their association with the Indian Premier League. So far, only three Zimbabwe players had featured in the cash-rich league. Let us look at them one by one.
#1 Tatenda Taibu
Tatenda Taibu was the first Zimbabwe player to feature in the IPL. Kolkata Knight Riders bought him for a sum of USD 125,000 in the inaugural season. Since Brendon McCullum was the other wicket-keeper batsman in the squad, Taibu did not get enough opportunities.
Taibu started for KKR in just three IPL games. In those three matches, Taibu could manage only 31 runs with the strike rate of 119.23.
As a result, KKR released Taibu ahead of the 2009 IPL auction. After the inaugural season, Taibu even struggled to get shortlisted for the IPL auction.
Since Zimbabwe failed to qualify for the 2019 World Cup, the Board of Directors of Zimbabwe Cricket has terminated the contract of Taibu as the selection panel convener.