Dave Houghton takes over as Zim cricket coach
Sports Reporter
Zimbabwe Cricket board has fired coach Lalchand Rajput following a series of poor results, including a whitewash loss to Afghanistan over the past two weeks.
Former captain Dave Houghton replaces Rajput ahead of crucial World Cup qualifiers next month, but the Indian coach remains in the country’s structures as technical director according to a statement by Zimbabwe Cricket.
“The 64-year-old Houghton, a former Zimbabwe captain and coach, is expected to be in place ahead of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2022 that will be staged in the country next month,” reads a statement seen by ZC.
The changes were made after an emergency board meeting on Tuesday in reaction to Zimbabwe’s whitewash defeat to Afghanistan in a three-match series, following another clean-sweep loss in the one-day internationals.
Former South African all-rounder, Lance Klusener will be part of Houghton’s technical team as the Batting Coach.
“We are delighted to be bringing in Dave and we count ourselves fortunate and privileged to be able to appoint such a vastly experienced and highly respected Head Coach at a time we are looking to improve our on-field performances,” Zimbabwe Cricket Director, Hamilton Masakadza says.
Houghton, who is one of the African side’s greatest players in history has had a previous stint as the country’s head coach.
Rajput was initially appointed Zimbabwe’s coach in 2018 and had his contract renewed in 2021 but Zimbabwe continued to slide under his watch across all three formats.
