Jongwe's unshakeable belief
At the age of 16, Luke Jongwe wrote on his bedroom wall that he would play for Zimbabwe before he turned 20. The same self-belief has helped him overcome a terrifying injury to his forehead
ESPNcricinfo staff
03-Apr-2016
A week prior to the 2016 World T20, Zimbabwe allrounder Luke Jongwe was ruled out of the tournament after he was struck on the forehead as he attempted to field off his own bowling in a practice game in Sharjah. The 21-year-old allrounder was terrified the injury would be the end of his international career but he has since recovered and is working hard to get back to his best. In an interview with the Standard, Jongwe shares his remarkable cricketing journey and talks about the belief that drove him to write on his bedroom wall that he would play for Zimbabwe before he turned 20.
While cricket became the centre of his life as a young lad, big things began to unlock for him when he went for secondary school at Churchill High School. First, he made the Zimbabwe Under-14 team to tour Namibia in 2009 and at 16, he made the 2012 Zimbabwe Under-19 World Cup team hosted by Australia. This was the time he wrote on his bedroom wall that he was going to play for the national team before he turned 20.
"A lot of people thought I was crazy when I posted on Facebook that I was going to play for the national team at 19. I even wrote it on the wall in my bedroom in Glenview where I used to stay with my parents. I was more of a believer; I felt things would happen for me and even my coach used to tell me that I had no idea how talented I was and it encouraged me," the Matabeleland Tuskers player said.