Profile
Hurled into the Zimbabwean Test side at the age of 18, Elton Chigumbura did not perform well on debut. His scores for the match were 14 and 0, but he took a wicket on debut, that of no less a batsman than Mahela Jayawardena. His Test career was rather short-lived, as Zimbabwe was barred from Tests in 2005, the year after Chigumbura made his debut.
With Zimbabwe still participating in ODIs, Chigumbura has gained experience in the shorter form of the game and has proven himself to be one of the shining, if inconsistent, lights of a side that seems to be in a periodic state of flux. He is an aggressive batsman, demonstrated by his big hitting. He normally bats in the middle order and is perfectly able to accelerate during the final overs. He has made over 10 fifties against seven different nations, including six Test-playing sides. Chigumbura has also proved to be a more-than-useful pace bowler and picks up wickets frequently, if a little expensively. The man from Kwekwe is known to be nimble in the field and has a safe pair of hands; he has over 30 catches credited to him.
With the increasing politicization of Zimbabwean cricket and the sacking or retirement of many experienced players, the team has performed poorly over several years. Never a strong team, in recent years even wins against minnow nations could not be guaranteed. It was into this state of affairs that Chigumbura was entrusted with captaincy in 2010. But, after a dismal show at the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup, the captaincy changed hands as Chigumbura was replaced with Brendan Taylor; a move that signaled Zimbabwe's return to Test cricket in the same year to face Bangladesh at home.
Fast Facts
- At 18, Elton Chigumbura became the youngest Zimbabwean player to have taken a 5-wicket haul in Tests.
- He also became the first Zimbabwean to have taken 4 wickets in a T20 game.
- Chigumbura was named Zimbabwe's Player of the Year in 2010.
- At 24 years and 75 days, he became the third youngest captain in Zimbabwe's ODI history.
Statistics
Show:
| |
Matches |
Innings |
Runs |
NO |
Avg. |
SR |
100's |
50's |
HS |
| Test |
9 |
17 |
319 |
0 |
18.76 |
47.39 |
0 |
2 |
86 |
| ODI |
145 |
134 |
2837 |
14 |
23.64 |
82.97 |
0 |
14 |
79 |
| T20 |
22 |
21 |
348 |
2 |
18.31 |
147.45 |
0 |
0 |
48 |
| |
Matches |
Innings |
Balls |
Runs |
Wickets |
BBI |
BBM |
Avg. |
Econ. |
4w |
5w |
10w |
Extras |
| Test |
9 |
14 |
1311 |
758 |
16 |
5/54 |
/ |
47.37 |
3.46 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
15 |
| ODI |
145 |
109 |
3817 |
3754 |
94 |
4/28 |
/ |
39.93 |
5.90 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
197 |
| T20 |
22 |
18 |
252 |
368 |
15 |
4/31 |
/ |
24.53 |
8.76 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
| |
Catches |
Stumpings |
Runouts |
| Test |
3 |
0 |
0 |
| ODI |
45 |
0 |
17 |
| T20 |
9 |
0 |
2 |
| |
Matches |
Won |
Lost |
Tie |
No Result |
Win percentage |
| ODI |
20 |
8 |
12 |
0 |
0 |
40 |
| T20 |
4 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Career
Span:
- Test:
- 2004-2013
- ODI:
- 2004-2013
- T20:
- 2006-2012
- Test
-
- Debut:
- Zimbabwe Vs Sri Lanka at Harare Sports Club, Harare (Salisbury) - May 06, 2004
- Last played:
- Zimbabwe Vs Bangladesh at Harare Sports Club, Harare - Apr 25, 2013
- ODI
-
- Debut:
- Zimbabwe Vs Sri Lanka at Queen's Sports Club, Bulawayo - Apr 20, 2004
- Last played:
- Zimbabwe Vs Bangladesh at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo - May 08, 2013
- T20
-
- Debut:
- Zimbabwe Vs Bangladesh at Khulna Divisional Stadium, Khulna - Nov 28, 2006
- Last played:
- Zimbabwe Vs South Africa at Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Hambantota - Sep 20, 2012
