Lalchand eyes final ahead of series against Pakistan & Australia
Former Afghanistan coach Lalchand Rajput joined Zimbabwe national cricket team as the interim head coach ahead of their home T20I tri-series against Australia and Pakistan in July. He has signed a three-month deal and his future with the team will probably depend on the Chevrons’ performance in the upcoming series.
Following Zimbabwe’s failure to qualify for the 2019 ICC World Cup, head coach Heath Streak and the entire support staff were sacked by the Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC). Graeme Cremer was also removed from captaincy after that incident.
“They called me up and showed an interest in me. For now, the deal is for three months. After that, if both parties agree, it will be extended. I am really happy with this, because this is what I was looking for after the job with Afghanistan,” said Rajput in an interview with ICC-cricket.com.
“Afghanistan did exceptionally well when I was the coach there, so the people in Zimbabwe must have seen something that impressed them. But yes, it’s a challenge. Challenges get the best out of me. I think people know me for that.”
Rajput’s primary objective is to help the team qualify for the final in the tri-nation series. He had previously managed the Indian team that won the first-ever ICC World T20 in 2007.
“My first job will be to get the players ready for the triangular series. I have not yet met the players; I will go there and slowly find out everything, meet them, understand them, motivate them. There is a lot of talent there, but I need to turn things around quickly and hopefully take them to the next level. The main thing is to get the players together and get them to perform as a unit,” said Rajput.
“They want to do well like all teams do. My job is to get the best results, for the team to do well, perform better. For the tri-series against Australia and Pakistan, both strong teams, the first goal is to reach the final. Then we will take it one step at a time.”
“The morale in the team was very low,” recalled Rajput about his time with the Indian team. “I looked at my job as mainly to prepare and motivate the players. Performances will come. And the results were there for everyone to see.”
Afghanistan, who qualified for the World Cup along with West Indies by being the champions in the qualifiers, got their Test status during Rajput’s tenure. According to the 56-year-old, his job was quite easy with the Afghan side as they were really hungry for success.
He said, “Afghanistan are very talented, especially in shorter versions. In coaching you are learning all the time, you pick up new things all the time. With Afghanistan, they had very simple thoughts – scoring fast; they would score 70s and get out. My job was to help them score centuries, bat long, play for time. They are very passionate about the game. That’s how we achieved Test status. It was quite easy for me, because they really wanted to do well.”
