Zimbabwe is all in readiness to host the Indian cricket team for the second time in 2 years as the two teams take on each other in 3 ODIs and 2 T20Is. Although India have picked a primarily second-string side for the tour, it does include their regular limited-overs skipper MS Dhoni.

The Zimbabwean side for the tour has not been announced yet; however, the board has dismissed both skipper Hamilton Masakadza and head coach Dav Whatmore from their services. It comes across as quite a surprising decision, considering the fact that a tour of such great importance is less than 2 weeks away.

The reason that has been cited by Zimbabwe Cricket behind the unceremonious sacking of the captain-coach duo is the team’s poor performance in the ICC World Twenty20.

Zimbabwe failed to reach the Super 10 stage of the tournament as they crashed out after losing to Afghanistan in the qualifiers.

While leg-spinner Graeme Cremer has replaced Masakadza as the skipper for the moment, bowling coach Makhaya Ntini will assume the responsibility of head coach until a formal decision is reached.

Zimbabwean cricket is no longer in the same state as it was during the late 1990s and early 2000s when the team not only posed a threat to major international cricketing nations but also managed to beat them every now and then.

Politics has had its role to play in their steep decline and also the sudden dearth of talented players in their ranks over the past few years.

Dav Whatmore, a former Australian cricketer, is known to be one of the best cricket coaches one has come across in at least the last two decades.

His biggest claim to fame till date remains his stint with Sri Lanka during the 1996 World Cup, which took them to the pinnacle of success after they emerged as champions.

Whatmore also proved to be quite a miracle worker for the Bangladesh cricket team as they managed to make it past the group stage of the 2007 ICC World Cup by pulling off an upset over India. Another one of the Aussie coach’s major successes came in 2012 when he helped Pakistan lift the Asia Cup. - sportskeeda.com