ক্রিস এমপোফু

A tall seam bowler who hits the deck hard, Chris Mpofu benefited from the mass exodus of rebel cricketers in Zimbabwe and got a chance in the international stage in 2004. He made his debut against the visiting English side in November 2004 and though he went wicketless, he managed to put the England top order in some trouble with his height and movement. Soon, he made his way into the Test side and made his debut in January 2005 against Bangladesh. He was quite effective immediately, picking up 4 wickets but conceded more than a 100 runs.

Mpofu gained a lot from Heath Streak after the latter was appointed Zimbabwe's bowling coach. He became much more accurate and with increased pace, he became a regular member of the Zimbabwe eleven in the years to come. His best bowling figures came in a match against Kenya in 2008, when he picked up 6 for 52 off his 10 overs, though in a losing cause. He was one of the strike bowlers for Zimbabwe in the 2011 World Cup, and had decent success in the 4 games he played. Mpofu will have a big role to play for Zimbabwean cricket in the upcoming years, especially if they are to return to Test cricket and yes he did set the ball rolling in Zimbabwe's comeback Test against Bangladesh, bagging 5 wickets as Zimbabwe tasted their first Test victory since 2004. He extended his fine form in the following Test against Pakistan. The speed merchant was also at it when Zimbabwe XI downed a strong South Africa XI, armed with the likes of Richard Levi, Hasim Amla, JP Duminy and Albie Morkel, in the Triangular T20 series in 2012. He snapped up 3 wickets in his quota of 4 overs in addition to being parsimonious.

Though a troublesome lower back coupled with the rapid progress of Chatara and Vitori has led to his marginalization from Test cricket, he is still hanging on the ODI radar, courtesy his all-round skills.

By Karthik Lakshmanan