Chamu Chibhabha is an allrounder whose batting is his stronger suit. Chibhabha has found more success in cricket's shorter formats, where he bats up the order and is also capable of bowling seamers at surprising pace off an apparently leisurely run-up. Coming from the townships, he was well coached under the ZC development programme and has a sound technique against pace, with the discipline to play straight and the courage to take on the short ball, but is not as comfortable against spin. He is a superb fielder, usually in the covers. He was fast-tracked into the national side in 2005 after the departure of a slew of senior players, and after an inauspicious start (he made a duck on debut against New Zealand and struggled in the Under-19 Afro Asian Cup) he came good with back-to-back fifties in the opening matches of the tour of the Caribbean in 2006. Consistency was lacking, however, with Chibhabha struggling to convert regular starts into big scores. As such, his appearances for the national side have been marked by their irregularity. Chibhabha captained the Southern Rocks franchise for some time, and was their leading scorer by some distance in the 2009-10 domestic Twenty20 competition. He carried that form into Zimbabwe's tour of South Africa later that year where he scored back-to-back fifties in the T20s, the second of which very nearly helped Zimbabwe to chase down a mammoth 194. Chibhabha moved to Mashonaland Eagles for the 2012/13 season, but the switch didn't immediately to lead to more chances with the national side. He bolted into the team's squad for the 2015 World Cup, however, with a 155 against Canada and a couple of fifties in domestic cricket in the lead-up to the tournament helping his case. His sister Julia was the first Zimbabwe women's captain and also the first women's player to be contracted as a coach by Zimbabwe Cricket.
Liam Brickhill