Following the sack of former fast bowler Heath Streak earlier this year in March as head coach, Lalchand Rajput was appointed on Thursday, the 17th of May, 2018 as the interim head coach of Zimbabwe Cricket. He is charged with the responsibility of overseeing the affairs of the team for the time being until he is either appointed fully as the head coach, or a good replacement is appointed to succeed Heath Streak.
Upon his appointment this day, Lalchand is expected to commence activities immediately has he prepares the team for T20I – a triangular Twenty20 International tournament. This tournament has Zimbabwe participating alongside Australia and Pakistan which is fixed to hold in Harare by the month of July. The retinue behind Rajput’s appointment is not all clear as there are issues surrounding Zimbabwe cricket that has not be fixed.
Uncertainties About Rajput’s Appointment
First, Zimbabwe’s participation in the upcoming triangular series is still in doubt as the players have not been paid their salaries for about two months now, and the national players are being owed match fees for a long while now. This issues are meant to be addressed before appointing Rajput has interim head coach.
Secondly, Zimbabwe cricket announcing this appointment, are doing so without entering into a signed formal contract with Lalchand Rajput. Also this appointment is coming in less than three weeks that the position was made open for entries.
Notwithstanding these uncertainties, Rajput is experienced and can drive Zimbabwe farther than his predecessor who got sacked due to Zimbabwe’s inability to qualify for the 2019 World Cup. Lalchand Rajput was among the coaching team that led Zimbabwe to glory in the T20 World Cup in 2007. He was one time Mumbai Indians’ coach before going on to coach Afghanistan. He has also served as the Director of National Cricket Academy, India. This might just be another goldenslot for Rajput.