Tafadzwa Kamungozi

Spinners of all types appear to have proliferated in Zimbabwe in recent years and Tafadzwa Kamungozi, a legspinner from Harare, is one who has shown reaonable promise. Born in Harare, Kamungozi first learned to play cricket at Chengu Primary School in the township of Highfield. He was a seam bowler at first, but while a student at Highfield High, at around the time he joined Takashinga Cricket Club, he changed to leg spin. He lived close to the Takashinga ground and came under the tutelage of coaches Stephen Mangongo and Walter Chawaguta. Joining Takashinga was also his only chance to continue playing cricket, as the sport was not played at his high school.

Kamungozi was never chosen for a national age-group team and made a somewhat unexpected international debut against South Africa in an ODI in September 2006, at the age of 19. South Africa demolished a woefully under-strength Zimbabwe side, scoring 420, but Kamungozi escaped with relatively light punishment and picked up the wickets of Loots Bosman and Justin Kemp. The following month he toured India with the Zimbabwean team for the ICC Champions Trophy, and did reasonably well against both Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

It wasn't until 2014 that Kamungozi was once again called upon by Zimbabwe, this time for the World T20. While his performances there were nothing special, progress was clearly being made and Kamungozi's efforts on an A tour later that year led to a place in Zimbabwe's full side for their trip to Bangladesh. On an otherwise torrid tour, Kamungozi shone with six wickets in five ODIs, and an economy rate of just over four an over. He made his Test debut in Mirpur, and beat stiff competition from offspinner John Nyumbu to be included in Zimbabwe's squad for the 2015 World Cup.
Liam Brickhill