Lahore - Zimbabwe opener Chamu Chibhabha, who batted well against Pakistan team during the second One-Day International (ODI) at Gaddafi Stadium and lost his wicket at 99, has said that losing wicket at 99 was more painful than a duck on his debut.
29-year old Chibhabha, who became the first Zimbabwean player to lose his wicket at 99 when he was caught by Sarfraz Ahmed on the ball of Shoaib Malik, said: "When I returned the dressing room, I was informed about the this dubious record.”
Interestingly, Chibhabha had also an inauspicious start of his ODI career as he made a duck on debut against New Zealand at Harare in 2005. “During the second ODI where I scored 99 runs and could not convert them into a triple figure, was more painful than my debut match.”
Comparing the two games, he said: “This is my first tour to Pakistan which is really remarkable. Being an opener, I have greater responsibilities of building the innings to help my team score a big total or chase in great style. Reaching near to century and missing it just by a solitary run is obviously very disappointing. Even I had forgotten my debut duck which happened about 10 years ago, but it’s too tough to forget to miss the opportunity to score my debut century,” he added.
Chibhabha's sister, Julia, who also played for the Zimbabwe women team, was quoted as saying that her brother's wicket at 99 runs on Friday was not easily forgettable. "Any good batsman can be a failure on his debut match when he is totally inexperienced and there can be no fuss about it. It is part of the game to be out on duck but not been able to score first hundred when reaching nearest to that total is very painful,” she said.
“The batsman out on nervous nineties misses an opportunity to celebrate the hundred and only take consolation is that he has scored 90 odd runs,” she concluded.
Meanwhile, Sikandar Raza, who hit ton during the first ODI, said that he would try his best to help Zimbabwe clinch a competitive victory in the third and final ODI. "It's a very special hundred and it couldn't have come at a sweeter time, only because I was questioning a lot of things in my head and I wanted to prove, not to anyone but to myself, that a lot of people had put their faith in me and I deserved that."
“I was questioning myself, and if I'm not up to the task, I'd better give my jersey to someone else, to another youngster who can take my position and do the job," added Raza.