TATENDA Taibu, the newly appointed Zimbabwe Cricket chief selector, believes his key responsibility is a ‘simple’ process that requires transparency and communication with players.
Taibu, the former Zimbabwe captain and wicket keeper with 28 Tests, 150 ODI and 17 T20 appearances in a career spanning a decade, has been tasked to head the selection panel with additional responsibilities in development and high performance and luring back ex-Zimbabwe players to the domestic leagues.
“You can’t say I am back in the game because I am not playing; playing days are gone. I am back to assist those in the game,” Taibu told H-Metro.
Being chief selector is one of the most influential positions in Zimbabwe Cricket determining the performance of the national team on the international stage.
During the four years Taibu has been on the sidelines, a lot has happened. One of the most talking points is that of the Chevrons, who are now ranked outside the top 10 on the International Cricket Council team rankings in all formats of the game. Zimbabwe’s performance has been hurting to say the least.
The selection of the Chevrons squad has been an area that has generated a lot of debate in the cricket fraternity over the years.
Lately, this has seen the axing of Kenyon Ziehl, Taibu’s precursor, coach Dav Whatmore and relinquishing of Hamilton Masakadza as captain following poor shows at the ICC World T20 last March.
However, Taibu believes it’s a manageable task.
“I think it’s very easy to handle because you only have to be transparent. Any other post, the problem I have seen not in Zimbabwe Cricket only but business circles is if you are not transparent things don’t work.
“Be transparent with players, you tell them what you think and they tell you what they think. I believe it’s simple.”
Taibu is convinced that Zimbabwean cricket is never short of talented players and this all culminates to the level of professionalism in assessing and managing the available talent.
“The question it’s not talent; the word talent is never in discussion. Talent is always there in Zimbabwe, professionalism is a point of discussion and being positive is another.
“A professional is someone who does a certain thing, it’s about the professionalism I do, the thing I am expected to do,” he said.
As it stands, Taibu will work with South African legends in Makhaya Ntini and Lance ‘Zulu’ Klusener for the upcoming tour by India.