Lalchand Rajput to resume coaching Zimbabwe men’s team after legal stoush

[ZIMDOGGY]

Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) has re appointed Lalchand Rajput as Head Coach of the Zimbabwe Senior Men's National Team after a legal dispute regarding his previous dismissal came to an end, in a reshuffle that sees David Houghton assuming a new role as Technical Director.

The changes were confirmed during a ZC Board meeting held on Tuesday.

As part of the coaching changes, Andy Blignaut has already re-joined the technical team as Bowling Coach - the former national all-rounder previously served in the capacity of junior development coach between 2016 and 2018 and was until recently employed as a teacher at Peterhouse high school, doubling as their head coach.

https://allafrica.com/stories/201512072544.html

ZC is also finalising the appointment of an extension to Stuart Matsikenyeri as senior men’s batting coach till 2027 to complete the coaching roster.

Commenting on the development, ZC Chairman of Cricket Tavengwa Mukuhlani said he was confident the changes will boost the technical team and help turn around Zimbabwe's on-field fortunes.

"We are delighted to be bringing back Lalchand and we count ourselves fortunate and privileged to be able to re-appoint such a vastly experienced and highly respected Head Coach at a time we are looking to improve our on-field performances," he said.

"With Stu having also bounced back as Batting Coach, we believe we now have a formidable technical team that can push for World Cup finals qualification and ensure our players put in consistently competitive performances."

Mukhulani added: "I would also like to thank Dave Houghton who has been in charge of the team for the past two years, an incredibly challenging period for our cricket.”
"He will continue to be involved in our game as Technical Director and will provide invaluable support to the team."

Before his latest appointment, Houghton was doubling up as ZC's Coaching Manager and Head Coach at provincial side Mountaineers.

Prior to that, he was the head of cricket at Derbyshire County Cricket Club in England.

Zimbabwe's first Test Captain, Houghton is one of the best batters to emerge from this country.

He announced his arrival on the big stage with a score of 121 in Zimbabwe's inaugural Test, against India in Harare in 1992/93.

Houghton went on to hit 266 - Zimbabwe's highest Test score to date - against Sri Lanka in Bulawayo in 1994/95.

His most memorable one-day international innings was against New Zealand at the 1987 World Cup, when he scored 142 runs off 137 deliveries with 13 fours and six sixes.

After taking charge of Zimbabwe as a player-coach, Houghton went on to become a successful coach in England.
-Adam Theo

[eugene]

I remember when Andy Blignaut used to be the main headline around this time of year.

[Donald]

Ha Ha. You almost had me

[sam_ahm]

For a few seconds I was literally like depressed... And then I remembered the date today.

[CalZim]

It’s not the same when you deliver it the night before

‘Highly respected’ cracked me up

[ZIMDOGGY]

It’s not the same when you deliver it the night before

‘Highly respected’ cracked me up

Interesting observation, I was getting all my 'articles' fed from Australia where it was already April 1, so pulled the trigger and was happy to confuse those in the lagging time zones.

[secretzimbo]

-Adam Theo

[zimbos_05]

I hate you.

I read the headline and I nearly flipped the laptop.

[Pat_Bee]

Can have a partial credit for that suspect link in your post old ZimDawg. Solid 7/10 effort