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Zimbabwe: IPL Deal Confirms Taibu's Iconic Status
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Zimbabwe Standard (Harare)
2 March 2008
Posted to the web 3 March 2008
Lloyd Mutungamiri
FORMER Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu has proved his iconic standing in world cricket following a dream signing with the inaugural Indian Cricket League, in a US$723.59million auction involving some of the biggest names in the global game.
Taibu was among 79 world stars put up for auction on 20 February in New Delhi, fetching a modest US$125 000, with the highest bid of US$1.5million going to India's Mahendra Dhoni, while Sri Lanka's Chamara Silva went for the lowest price of US$100 000.
Two players who were also up for auction -- South Africa's Ashwell Prince and Mohammad Yousuf of Pakistan -- found no takers. The bubbly wicketkeeper/batsman will be turning out for Kolkata, who are one of eight teams comprising the newly established IPL to be run by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, and leaves on 9 April to embark on what he has described as "one of the biggest achievements of my career".
The IPL, a Twenty20 competition set to run for a total 44 days, has attracted some of the biggest names in world cricket and Taibu's Kolkata has such megastars as Australia captain Ricky Ponting, India's Sourav Ganguly, Pakistan paceman Shoaib Akhtar and West Indies' Chris Gayle, with Aussie legend John Buchanan in the side.
And Taibu feels his long-cherished dream has finally been fulfilled. "I believe it's one of my biggest achievements to be recognized among some of the great players in world cricket, and it's been one of my dreams to be playing in such a league (as the IPL)," Taibu told Standardsport yesterday.
"It's just over two years and to be the only Zimbabwean who is going to be taking part makes it even more special for me."
Since Taibu's shock resignation from international cricket (on 24 November, 2005) following a much-publicized fallout with the game's leadership, his steady rise as the complete cricketer shows the time in exile instilled in him the grit and steel which now make him such a dogged competitor.
"I have been playing well since my comeback, and I'm extremely pleased with what I have managed to achieve since bouncing back against India A. I've scored more than 400 runs, and for someone to do that in a single year is quite an achievement. Obviously, I would want to do even better, but overall, I'm satisfied with what has happened since returning to the Zimbabwe team," he said of his fine form since his return to the international fold, last July.
Yet Taibu believes Zimbabwe are still to establish the solid base expected of a genuine, potentially winning-side, and puts it all down to lack of a wider and more experienced pool of players to choose from.
"As a team, a bit of progress has been made. We have players such as Sean Williams scoring runs, and guys like Stewart (Matsikenyeri) and Elton Chigumbura are coming up with the winning 50s, which is very encouraging. We have guys like Tawanda M'pariwa who has also been doing quite well in one-day cricket, but it's really harder to judge when it's one-day cricket," he said. "We need to be playing more four-day cricket and then we can see exactly what progress we have made as a team."
And Taibu is not sure if Zimbabwe is ready for a return to the ultimate test in world cricket.
"There is no doubt there are some guys in the team who are really ready for a return to Test cricket, but not everyone can be said to be ready, and I have to be honest about it. On my part, I'm ready. I've always been ready. But there are still some youngsters in the team who still lack experience, but really, it's up to the board to decide if and when the team should be making the comeback (to Test cricket)."
With Kolkata having also signed New Zealand's Brendon McCullum for US$700 000, Taibu will have his work cut out in the battle to keep wicket for the franchise side. But for the Zimbabwean fighter, half the battle is already won with this selection to be a part of history, as the inaugural IPL -- whose winner will walk away with a cool US$3 million.
Kolkata squad with winning bids (players' age in brackets)
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Sourav Ganguly (c)(35) India $1,092 500; Ishant Sharma (19) India $950 000; Chris Gayle (28) West Indies $800 000; Brendon McCullum (26) New Zealand $700 000; David Hussey (30) Australia $625 000; Shoaib Akhtar (32) Pakistan $425 000; Murali Kartik (31) India $425 000; Ricky Ponting (33) Australia $400 000; Ajit Agarkar (30) India $330 000; Umar Gul (24) Pakistan $150 000; Tatenda Taibu (24) Zimbabwe $125 000.
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| Copyright © 2008 Zimbabwe Standard. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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