No, it was not the form; it was the kit that cost talented wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu his place in the Zimbabwean side in the upcoming cricket series against India. The player believes that, the entire episode has been staged in an attempt to deny him his rightful place in the team. The player, who has already been charged with assault on a ZC employee, holds that the kit controversy was a part of a greater game plan to malign him and oust him from the team. But the cricketer warns, “If someone is trying to frustrate me they will not win - because I will always be available to play for my country. I will not pull out.” His suspicion is that, there must be something cooking outside the kit issue and the player says that he would wait for the truth to come out.
 
Back in January, Zimbabwe was touring Bangladesh and the team had to return without their equipment. While other team members managed to rescue much of their essential items, incidentally it was Taibu, who couldn’t. The wicketkeeper then refused to take part in the upcoming cricket series against Kenya, citing the loss of kit as a reason for his unavailability. The player claimed that playing with equipment other than his own makes him uncomfortable.

Then on returning to Zimbabwe, he took part in the first three Faithwear Cup matches, but refused to play in the remaining two matches citing the reason as the dissatisfaction with the kit provided by the Zimbabwe Cricket, claiming his bat handles had been shortened to his specifications. Now there is no guarantee of the fact that his kit would arrive at India from Bangladesh, prior to the upcoming cricket series. And the only logical step left with the Zimbabwean selectors was to drop Taibu from the team list and replace him with Forster Mutizwa, whose form and availability was unquestionable.

Although Taibu now spits fire against his selectors, his arrogance and rigid attitude has earned him a bad name among the cricket administrations as well as in the cricket news media in his own country. The same player who declared himself unavailable for all five matches against Kenya because he insisted on using only his personal kit that accidentally could not be rescued from Bangladesh, now claims that he has been the victim of conspiracy. A larger section of media however believes, this is because, this time the opponent is India, which is far stronger than Kenya and playing against such a team could be a boost for his career and a great learning experience too.

Taibu’s case can be an eye-opener for some of the cricketers who are known for their arrogance and unprofessionalism in the international cricket arena.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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