Brisbane: Zimbabwe skipper Craig Ervine is hoping his team’s massive win against Pakistan in the ICC T20 World Cup opens the door for more games and series against major Test-playing nations to be allotted in future.
Zimbabwe are in a comfortable position in their Group, placed third after the abandoned tie against South Africa and the stunning win against Pakistan. They will play their third Super 12 match against Bangladesh here on Sunday, hoping to garner another couple of points.
Asked if the win against Pakistan had opened the window for boards to consider to play more international cricket against them, Ervine said it was the team’s long-term goal.
“Look, that’s obviously the long-term goal is to try and play the bigger nations. In coming to a World Cup like this, there’s no better stage to put out performances like that, especially against the bigger sides like Pakistan and India. It was a huge win (against Pakistan), not only in the tournament but for us as a team and a country going forward.”
Ervine hoped Zimbabwe will continue to shine in the World Cup and the win against Pakistan is not just a flash in the pan.
“Hopefully it’s not just a once off. We’d like to try and repeat those kinds of wins going forward to try and make sure that we can get an away tour to England or England can come to us or Australia or India. It does open up opportunities, but we need to do it a little bit more consistently.”
Ervine is a bit unhappy with the scheduling of the tournament, saying the turnaround time between matches is very less.
“Obviously the win against Pakistan was absolutely massive for us, just to keep our chances alive of making the semis. But we know that we’ve only had to have a travel day yesterday, practiced today and tomorrow is our game against Bangladesh, so it’s a very quick turnaround, and we can’t sort of dwell on that win last night too much. We’ve got to concentrate on our next game, and Bangladesh is also a great side. We’ll have to come here and play some exceptionally good cricket again tomorrow,” he said.
The skipper expressed confidence in his side saying Zimbabwe will bring their ‘A’ game into the match.
“I think we have a great chance in every game, and T20 cricket is the sort of game that if you do have a couple guys that come off on the day, you can beat any side. We know that Bangladesh is a quality side, so we’re definitely going to have to bring our A-game tomorrow.
“The guys — obviously got their tails up. We’ve got a lot of confidence obviously with the win against Pakistan, but we just know how fragile this game is and how quickly it can turn around,” he added.
–IANS
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