The Bangladesh Premier League hits the home stretch as
the Twenty 20 showcase gets ready for the finals. Zimbabwe captain Brendan
Taylor who turned out for the Chittagong Kings says he enjoyed being part of the
tournament and believes he learnt a lot while he was in the Asian country.
Speaking in an interview with OFF THE CREASE, Taylor said
he is pleased to have been a part of the
BPL. “It was a great tournament and a very competitive one. I am very pleased
to have been in a great team like the Kings and l am very pleased with my
individual performance” he said.
Taylor left Zimbabwe as just an ordinary player who was
to fight for a first eleven jersey but he ended up captaining the Kings. He
explained the reason why he ended up leading the team, “There were
complications in the beginning with our structure, then there was a major
shake-up meeting in management and they resolved to give me the captaincy. I am
pretty sure the results speak for themselves, we had a great team and so we
started winning. l was very happy on the
role l was given that is to lead the team, it was a great opportunity for me to
learn and use what l have gained from being a captain of the national team” he
added.
Taylor’s appointment as Kings captain came after Mahmudullah Riyad , was believed not
to have been enjoying the role.The Kings have in their books Top cricketers
like England all rounder Ravi Bopara, New Zealand's Jacob Oram and Australian
fast bowler Shaun Tait. This only
widened Taylor's horizon as a captain and gave him the necessary on the field
training as to what is expected of him when pressure times call.
He spoke about how it
felt to be in charge of all those ‘big egos’ in the Kings changing room. “It
was an honour and great privilege to captain those guys, they were very, very
supportive so it made my job easier’ he said.
Taylor responded on the
illness that prevented him from travelling with the rest of the team to the
West Indies. “About six or seven days ago l got a viral infection due to high
temperatures in the Bangladesh” he said. Initially in the media, there had been
reports that Taylor was suffering from Malaria but he put the record straight
saying it was because of the high temperatures and he went on to comment on the
progress of his recovery. “The worst is over, l am fine now and l am waiting
for the fitness test then fly off to the West Indies on Tuesday afternoon, so l
can spend time with the guys” he added.
Taylor will captain all
the formats of the game were Zimbabwe start their campaign in the five ODI series
on Friday in Greneda. The team will be comprised of the usual top order
batsmen, Vusi Sibanda, Hamilton Masakadza, Craig Ervine, senior bowler Chris
Mpofu together with Kyle Jarvis and debutants Tendai Chatara, Tino Mutombodzi
and Natsai Mushangwe. “Well unfortunately l haven’t spent much time with the
team but l am very confident with the team that left for the West Indies. I think
it’s got a good balance of experience and rookies. It’s going to be an uphill
task, l know the guys have prepared well and it is up to us to go out there and
prove our worth as a team” said Taylor.
OFF THE CREASE asked
Taylor on his decision to express his dissatisfaction on a social platform facebook
about ZC’s dropping of Bowling and Batting coaches Heath Streak and Grant Flower
respectively. “Well l put up a statement to apologise to the ZC on the way l
went about it. It could have been done in a better way, considering the fact that
l was there in the meeting. But l have cleared that with the board and l had a
chat with the Managing Director (Wilfred Mukondiwa) on the issue. It is
certainly water under the bridge and we are now looking forward to the tour. We
have decided to move forward as we now know where we stand on that matter” he
said.
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