Zimbabwe in dire straits as Malcolm Waller pulls out of Pakistan ODIs

The problems continuing rise for Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) in the ongoing ODI series against Pakistan. They are already playing without their first priority cricketers due to the payment concerns and now Malcolm Waller has also pulled out of the side citing labour-practice laws. He was part of the T20I squad also in the recently concluded tri-series against Australia and Pakistan.

Zimbabwe are missing their gun players like Brendan Taylor, Sikandar Raza, former captain Graeme Cremer, Craig Ervine and Sean Williams. Moreover, injuries to Soloman Mire, their hero in the T20I tri-series, and Kyle Jarvis has left them handicapped during the important cricketing season. Now, Waller pulling out of the ODIs against Pakistan is a huge blow for them.

Raza was the only one of the ‘pulled out’ players to ply his trade in the ongoing Global T20 Canada as he turned out for Montreal Tigers.

Why did Waller leave?

According to the reports in ESPN Cricinfo, Malcolm Waller has withdrawn from the ongoing series against Pakistan citing labour-practice concerns. The cricketer hasn’t commented anything on the matter but ZC confirmed his withdrawal and correspondence with his lawyer.

The selectors have not named any replacement as of yet for Waller as the second ODI of the five-match series will be played on Monday. The hosts are already lagging by 0-1 and are increasingly shorn of experience to put up any kind of fight. Hamilton Masakadza is leading the side but with the depleted side, even he is facing difficulties to get the best out of the rookie players.

They lost the first game by a whopping 201 runs as they crumbled to a meagre total of 107 runs while chasing a mammoth 308 runs to win the game. It remains to be seen now if they will be able to make a comeback of any sorts in the next four matches.

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