Blessing Muzarabani

Blessing Muzarabani
Personal information
Born (1996-10-02) 2 October 1996 (age 28)
Murewa, Zimbabwe[1]
Height6 ft 8[2] in (2.03 m)
BattingRight-handed
BowlingRight-arm fast-medium
RoleBowler
International information
National side
Test debut (cap 105)26 December 2017 v South Africa
Last Test7 July 2021 v Bangladesh
ODI debut (cap 134)15 January 2018 v Bangladesh
Last ODI18 June 2023 v Zimbabwe
ODI shirt no.40
T20I debut (cap 48)5 February 2018 v Afghanistan
T20I shirt no.40
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
2017–2018Rising Stars
2019–2020Northamptonshire
2019–presentMashonaland Eagles
2021–2022Multan Sultans
Career statistics
Competition Test ODI T20I FC
Matches 6 37 34 23
Runs scored 102 89 19 337
Batting average 14.57 4.68 3.80 14.65
100s/50s 0/0 0/0 0/0 0/1
Top score 30* 17 8 52*
Balls bowled 1,015 1,796 750 2,985
Wickets 19 49 42 68
Bowling average 24.89 31.24 23.57 23.19
5 wickets in innings 0 1 0 1
10 wickets in match 0 0 0 0
Best bowling 4/48 5/49 3/21 5/32
Catches/stumpings 0/– 11/– 7/– 6/–
Source: Cricinfo, 18 June 2023

Blessing Muzarabani (born 2 October 1996) is a Zimbabwean cricketer.[3] He made his first-class debut for Rising Stars in the 2017–18 Logan Cup on 4 October 2017.[4]

Early and domestic career

Blessing Muzarabani was born in Murewa, a small town in Zimbabwe. Later his family moved to Highfield, a suburb in Harare. At the age of seven, he started cricket training at Takashinga Cricket Club. This is where his talent was spotted by coaches.[1] In 2017, he was chosen by Tatenda Taibu for the Rising Stars Academy to tour England for three months.[5]

In December 2020, he was selected to play for the Southern Rocks in the 2020–21 Logan Cup.[6][7]

In June 2021, Multan Sultans in the Pakistan Super League (PSL) added Muzarabani to their squad, replacing Obed McCoy, for the remaining matches in the 2021 PSL edition.[8] He played six matches and took ten wickets for his team, with the Multan Sultans winning their first PSL title.[9]

International career

In December 2017, he was named in Zimbabwe's Test squad for their one-off Test against South Africa.[10] He made his Test debut for Zimbabwe against South Africa in the Boxing Day Test on 26 December 2017.[11]

In January 2018, he was named in Zimbabwe's One Day International (ODI) squad for the tri-series in Bangladesh.[12] He made his ODI debut for Zimbabwe against Bangladesh on 15 January 2018.[13]

In February 2018, he was named in Zimbabwe's Twenty20 International (T20I) squad for their series against Afghanistan in the UAE.[14] He made his T20I debut for Zimbabwe against Afghanistan on 5 February 2018.[15]

Following the conclusion of the 2018 Cricket World Cup Qualifier tournament, the International Cricket Council (ICC) named Muzarabani as the rising star of Zimbabwe's squad.[16]

In August 2018, Muzarabani made himself unavailable for national selection for Zimbabwe, instead wishing to further his career in England.[17][18] The following month, he signed a three-year deal with the English side Northamptonshire as a Kolpak player.[19]

He then returned to play for Zimbabwe after his time in County Cricket. On 3 November 2020, in the third match against Pakistan, Muzarabani took his first five-wicket haul in ODI cricket and he took two additional wickets in the super over of the same match.[20]

References

  1. ^ a b "How Blessing Muzarabani became Zimbabwe's great new hope". The Cricket Monthly. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  2. ^ "6 ft 8 and full of energy". ICC Official Twitter. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  3. ^ "Blessing Muzarabani". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  4. ^ "Logan Cup at Kwekwe, Oct 4-7 2017". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
  5. ^ "From Takashinga to Northants: The hunger of Blessing Muzarabani". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 23 September 2018.
  6. ^ "Logan Cup first class cricket competition gets underway". The Zimbabwe Daily. Archived from the original on 9 December 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  7. ^ "Logan Cup starts in secure environment". The Herald. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  8. ^ "PSL organisers in a race against time to get Abu Dhabi leg under way". The National. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
  9. ^ "Multan Sultans clinch maiden PSL title". Cricbuzz. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  10. ^ "Zimbabwe pick uncapped Muzarabani, Burl for South Africa Test". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  11. ^ "Only Test (D/N), Zimbabwe tour of South Africa (Dec 2017) at Port Elizabeth, Dec 26-29 2017". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
  12. ^ "Uncapped Mavuta and Murray in Zimbabwe ODI squad". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  13. ^ "1st match (D/N), Bangladesh Tri-Nation Series at Dhaka, Jan 15 2018". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  14. ^ "Formidable Afghanistan eye more T20I success". Wisden India. Archived from the original on 4 February 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  15. ^ "1st T20I (N), Zimbabwe tour of United Arab Emirates at Sharjah, Feb 5 2018". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  16. ^ "CWCQ 2018 Report Card: Zimbabwe". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  17. ^ "Muzarabani quits Zimbabwe for cricket in England". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  18. ^ "Blessing Muzarabani puts Zimbabwe career on hold". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  19. ^ "Zimbabwe quick Blessing Muzarabani signs for Northamptonshire". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 7 September 2018.
  20. ^ "Twitter Reactions: Zimbabwe stun Pakistan in a thrilling Super Over courtesy Blessing Muzarabani". CricTracker. Retrieved 3 November 2020.