Published 17:45 IST, September 4th 2019
Zimbabwe skipper Hamilton Masakadza calls it quits from all formats
Zimbabwe captain Hamilton Masakadza will be retiring from all forms of international cricket at the end of the upcoming T20 tri-series with Bangladesh&Afghan.
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Zimbabwe captain Hamilton Masakadza will be retiring from all forms of international cricket at the end of the upcoming T20 tri-series in Bangladesh. The 36-year-old Masakadza has played 38 Tests, 209 ODIs and 62 T20 Internationals, scoring 9410 international runs. He had five centuries each in Tests and ODIs. He became the second Zimbabwe player (after Solomon Mire) to announce his retirement after the ICC suspension. Earlier, the Zimbabwe cricket board was reinstated by a government body but the country remains suspended by the International Cricket Council because of outside interference.
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Hamilton Masakadza calls it quits
"After a great deal of consideration, I have decided to announce my retirement from all formats of international cricket at the end of the upcoming triangular series in Bangladesh," Masakadza said at a press conference at Harare Sports Club on Tuesday. "It has been an enormous privilege to have played for and captained my country, and this is one of the hardest decisions I've had to make.""I was looking forward to the ICC T20 World Cup Qualifier in Dubai next month, but with Zimbabwe barred from the event, I feel the time is right to shift the focus to the next generation," Masakadza said.
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Zimbabwe Cricket Board reinstated
Zimbabwe Cricket's leadership under chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani will be allowed to return to their jobs after a court settlement was reached on Thursday with the government-appointed Sports and Recreation Commission.The SRC suspended the entire board in June, alleging corruption and election irregularities. That led to the ICC suspending Zimbabwe from international competition for government interference. The ICC said it will only reconsider Zimbabwe's suspension at a meeting in October. The ban has come at a high price for Zimbabwe's team, which has lost its place at the Twenty20 World Cup qualifying competition.
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Bangladesh to host Afghanistan and Zimbabwe
The International Cricket Council (ICC) suspended Zimbabwe in July over a failure to keep the sport free from government interference, putting the country's participation in multi-nation events in doubt. Afghanistan are the third team in the tournament scheduled to be held from September 13 to 24. Bangladesh was originally scheduled to play a bilateral series against Afghanistan in September, but officials said Zimbabwe had been included in the series following a request from the strife-torn country. The tri-series will be preceded by Afghanistan's maiden Test match against Bangladesh in Chittagong from September 5 to 9.
"We have been informed by the concerned officials that there is no bar on Zimbabwe playing in bilateral matches.cThey are only suspended from ICC events. This is why we included them in the series," BCB spokesman Jalal Yunus told media sources.
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17:19 IST, September 4th 2019