One of the great tragedies of world cricket in the past two decades has been the free fall in the fortunes of Zimbabwe as a team. For a brief period from the late 1990s to the early part of the millennium, Zimbabwe proved to be capable of more than just the odd upset victory, thanks to the presence of stars like the Flower brothers, Douglas Marillier, Heath Streak and Henry Olonga.
However, interference from the Robert Mugabe regime and international sanctions on the country led to an exodus of talent from the country and its cricket board coming under financial strain.
The world was reminded of Zimbabwe cricket's financial woes on Saturday when middle order batsman Ryan Burl shared an image of his worn-out shoes, held together with adhesive.
Burl tweeted "Any chance we can get a sponsor so we don’t have to glue our shoes back after every series."
Zimbabwe's status as a Test side was suspended briefly in 2004, following withdrawal of multiple players. The 2019 World Cup was the first edition of cricket's premier tournament that Zimbabwe failed to qualify in. In 2019, the ICC suspended Zimbabwe from international cricket, citing excessive government interference in the game's administration, only to reinstate the side later that year.
Pakistan toured Zimbabwe in April-May, playing two Tests and three T20Is. Zimbabwe managed to win just one T20I as Pakistan blanked out the home side in all the other games.
