Blessing Muzarabani

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]

Blessing Muzarabani
Personal information
Born (1996-10-02) 2 October 1996
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

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 added Muzarabani to their squad, replacing Obed McCoy, for the remaining matches in the 2021 Pakistan Super League (PSL).[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.[20]

References
  1. "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.
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