Mushfiq Rahim Vs Tatenda Taibu

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Sir Mupariwa
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Mushfiq Rahim Vs Tatenda Taibu

Post by Sir Mupariwa »

Who is the best cricketer between these two.

1)batting stats
2)batting technique
3)wicket keeping
4)Overally
12.4 Odhiambo to Vermeulen, FOUR, that's an appalling long hop, Vermulen had plenty of time to get into position, drink a cup of tea, and pull the ball towards the long leg boundary- his first boundary today

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Re: Mushfiq Rahim Vs Tatenda Taibu

Post by brmtaylor.com admin »

No comparison, Taibu is much better.

Taibu is very good, but he does ride on his reputation a lot rather than form. No outstanding performances (since his return) really spring to mind besides the century against South Africa, whereas guys like Chigumbura or Price have been consistently good over extended periods. Commentators are a bit naive because they buy into his reputation and then "add to it" by saying he is the key batsman in the side, the world class player, the only Zimbabwean with an IPL contract (Taylor, Sibanda and Chigumbura were far more deserving...), etc.

Taibu is quite arrogant, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I think he would feel just as comfortable facing Shaun Tait as he would Rubel Hossain, just like he would happily play a reverse sweep against you whether your name is Murali or Naeem. Taibu needs to translate his arrogance/belief/comfort at the crease into better scores though because it is embarrassing to do unorthodox things at the crease for a grand total of 8 or 9 runs.

But overall, Taibu is a very good player. He is Test quality, I think he was in contention for the Super Series World XI squad a few years ago. Obviously because Zimbabwe isn't playing Tests now, we have to judge him from ODI form - and there are a lot of players in the current squad which would be more suited to Test matches than ODIs remember.

As a wicket keeper, he is fine. He's very gutsy (see above about arrogance), standing up to the stumps to Ed Rainsford who was hitting 138+ in the 1st tri-series match. He's an energetic player, so it is important to keep him in the action. As wicket keeper he might also have a good understanding of the play going on, so he could help Utseya or the other bowlers in that respect. An interesting comparison would be Taibu to Taylor. Who would you choose? Brendan Taylor was the wicket keeper before Taibu was, and I think people forget how good Taylor is behind the stumps. Taylor isn't as athletic as Taibu, but just look at Taylor's work behind the stumps in the ICC World Twenty20 match against Australia. It was textbook - the runouts, stumpings, caught behinds, etc.

So overall, Taibu is in a completely different league to Mushfiqur. I think a better comparison to Mushfiqur would be Regis Chakabva.

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Re: Mushfiq Rahim Vs Tatenda Taibu

Post by zimfan1 »

no contest taibu has an IPL contract and hardly makes any mistakes and is a proven run scorer

mushfiq has potential with the bat but his wicket keeping leads a lot to be desired

when taibu is keeping one of his main strengths is hos awareness as he often scores directs hits at the bowlers end to run players out

since hes come back into the side zimbabwe have improved there is no question about that and hes the heartbeat of our side

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