Zimbabwe vs West Indies: Hamilton Masakadza, the unheralded torchbearer of cricket in African nation

Cricketing circuit is an amalgamation of focus, grit and will, at the centre of which lies the desire to defy all odds. While some players are destined to deal with the insane expectations of ‘God’ to a billion citizens, others fight their own mental demons to emerge stronger and mightier. The challenges extend to players who possess considerable skills but are unable to translate them into performances. However, in many ways, the most resolute are the bunch of cricketers who are caught up in a team that shows little promise of being a world-beater anytime soon.

And so, they fight on, raking in the runs and fulfilling their potential in every limited opportunity that comes their way, aware that oblivion awaits once they bid adieu.

Hamilton Masakadza is one such cricketer.

When one thinks of this right-handed batsman, the instant image is that of a cricketer from the struggling nation of Zimbabwe. The teammate of Brendan Taylor. His records and statistics are hardly inspiring, and one will be quick to dismiss him as a rather ordinary batsman. And this is where the numbers lie.

Ever since Masakadza became his country’s first black player to score a first-class ton in 2000, it was agreed that the 16-year old was destined for greater achievements. A little over a year later, the teenager was celebrating a jaw-dropping century against the West Indies in Harare, becoming the then youngest batsman to score a ton on Test debut.

Thus began a cricketing journey that would witness consistency and failures, sabbaticals and educational breaks – all revolving around technique and well-rounded skills.

As Test cricket in Zimbabwe plummeted, leading to their eventual exile from the five-day arena due to internal crisis from 2005 to 2011, Masakadza took it upon himself to guide his team from the depths of despair by plundering record-shattering knocks in the One Day Internationals (ODIs).

Soon after his maiden ODI hundred in 2009 against Bangladesh, he ended the five-match ODI series against Kenya with an aggregate of 467 runs – it remains the highest aggregate by a player in a five-match ODI series. With scores of 156 and 178 not out, Masakadza not only became the first player to make scores in excess of 150 twice in a series, but also gave glimpses of his talent.

As his popularity grew, Zimbabwe’s cricketing calibre fell. The top teams hardly wanted to pack in a series against the African side in their hectic calendars. If indeed a series was scheduled, the second-string teams were sent. Teams like Afghanistan and Kenya became their regular rivals and in the process, the cricketers from Zimbabwe continued getting robbed of the opportunity to contest rigid battles consistently. They were termed as minnows with months of no cricket, the momentum refused to build up, and growth was stalled.

If seen in that context, Masakadza’s emergence as one of the mainstays of Zimbabwe’s batting remains nothing short of an inspiration. He had a strike rate of 96.42 when Zimbabwe defeated Australia in the T20 World Cup in 2007. He notched up 75 and 44 in the two innings of the 2nd Test match in Harare in 2013 when Pakistan was shocked. In the 2-3 drubbing of Sri Lanka, the Mountaineers player won the Man of the Series award for his 258 runs, including 111 in the 3rd ODI.

His contribution as a batsman and mentor remain unparalleled and unquestionable. By taking up challenges and fighting them in his own convincing manner, Masakadza has carved out his legacy in the realm of cricket in his country.

He has participated in a whopping 68% of Test matches that Zimbabwe have played since he made his debut in 2001, scoring 1919 runs in 34 matches with four centuries in the process, including a fighting 147 in the ongoing Test match against West Indies. His leg-spin has accounted for the wickets of Darren Bravo, Misbah-ul-Haq and de Villiers in the 50-over format, which illustrates his shrewd cricketing brain.

However, his greatest strength lies in his ability to adapt and adjust to team’s demands – he instantly added the hook and the pull to his existing repertoire of shots off the front foot to suit the demands of the T20 format. From being a player who struggled with his strike rate to having played the maximum number of T20I matches for Zimbabwe, Masakadza’s story is one of struggle interspersed with dashes of brilliance.