Tatenda Taibu Exclusive: I Had The Ability To Become World No.1 In Test Cricket At Some Stage

Tatenda Taibu, former Zimbabwe wicketkeeper-batsman experienced his fair share of highs and lows early on in his career. Having made his debut for the national side in 2001, Taibu came into the set-up at a time when political turmoil was at its peak in Zimbabwe cricket.

The pint-sized dynamite was thrust upon with the responsibility of leading the side at the age of 21 after a number of seniors like Andy Flower, Henry Olonga and many others staged a rebellion against Mugabe’s regime in 2004.

But Taibu wasn’t going to be the one who would just get bogged down under pressure. In fact, as a batsman, he thrived in such tumultuous circumstances. Taibu was easily Zimbabwe’s best batsman during that time and at one stage was ranked No.27 in the world, as far as ICC Test rankings were concerned.

But then, the backlash against him by the Zimbabwe Cricket Board in 2005 and his subsequent retirement follower by Zimbabwe getting stripped of the Test status put a halt to his Test career.

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I had ambitions to become No.1 in Test cricket: Tatenda Taibu

16 years on, the fact he could not improve on his ranking and possibly inch closer to his dream- becoming the No.1 Test player in the world- Taibu still terms it as the biggest regret of his career.

“Definitely, one of my biggest regret because I knew I had the ability to become world no.1 in test cricket at some stage. I didn’t think that I’ll be able to get to No.1 in ODI cricket but I thought in Test cricket I had the ability. I remember that is the highest position (No.27) that I got in Test cricket,” Tatenda Taibu told Cricket Addictor.

He added: “I was playing really good cricket at the time. I remember there was big news everyone that I had overtaken Sourav Ganguly and I had aspirations to become no.1 at some stage but unfortunately, there were all those problems that you know about Zimbabwe cricket and we had to be pulled out of Test cricket “

Between the start of 2003 until his premature retirement in 2005, Taibu was head and shoulders above his teammates. In 34 innnings of 18 Test matches, Taibu racked up 1089 runs at an average of 34.03 with the help of eight half-centuries and a sumptuous 153 against Bangladesh in 2005.

Taibu returned to the team in 2007 but it was only in 2010, that he got to play his first Test. He went on to play four more Tests in which he scored 273 runs at an average of 34.12 with three half-centuries before announcing his retirement in 2012.

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