Sports Writer
Zimbabwe cricket coach, Laichand Rajput has questioned his squad’s attitude of winning games after a three-nil series defeat against Afghanistan at Harare Sports Club.
Zimbabwe’s losing streak continued Thursday with a four-wicket-defeat against visitors Afghanistan at Harare Sports Club, casting doubts on the Chevrons’ hunger to win.
A confident, Afghanistan completed a series victory in Harare to extend their dominance over Zimbabwe, ahead of the T20 series on Saturday.
Rajput told journalists after the defeat that his players lacked a ‘winning’ mentality.
“It is the mindset to be honest because the coaches have got an amount of work, we can do but the mindset of the players that go onto the middle. When they get to the field, they have attitude, the intent is there but sometimes we have got to execute it,” Rajput said.
During the series, the Chevrons lacked grit as they were hammered by a more determined Afghanistan side.
Rahmat Shah, who won the player of the series award, said the visitors’ aim is to win an automatic qualification to the 2023 World Cup in India.
“It will be a huge tournament for us to play in, for me especially,” Shah said.
This victory takes Afghanistan to 100 points from 12 matches on the World Cup Super League table.
The series victory takes the visitors to second place on the points’ table and in a good position to secure automatic qualification for the 2023 World Cup. Zimbabwe, on the other end of the table, remain in 12th place with only three wins from 14 matches.
Rashid Khan picked 3-31 as Zimbabwe was bowled out for 135 runs in 44 overs.
Coming into the series, Zimbabwe lost 3-2 defeat at the hands of Namibia, dampening the country’s chances of qualifying for the World Cup.
