Dave Haughton named Zimbabwe head coach

On June 14 (Tuesday), the former batter Dave Houghton was appointed as the head coach of Zimbabwe. 

Houghton featured in 22 Tests and scored 1464 runs at a terrific average of 43.05, with four centuries. In 63 ODI appearances, he garnered 1530 runs, with a solitary century. He played in international cricket from 1992 to 1997. 

The middle-order batter also served as the captain for Zimbabwe in their debut Test fixture against India and produced knocks of 121 and 41*, with the match ending as a draw. 

The 64-year-old will replace Lalchand Rajput for this role, who would assume the duties of technical director. 

Rajput served this role for more than three years after taking over from Heath Streak in 2018. 

Although Rajput's contract was extended in March this year, the board has tried to revamp the whole support staff. 

Houghton had also coached the Zimbabwe team in the 90s. He had been a critical force behind the team's momentous run in the 1999 World Cup, wherein they sealed the Super Six spots and beat the teams like India and South Africa. 

The former Zimbabwe batter was also involved with the county teams like Worcestershire, Derbyshire, and Middlesex. 

The Director of cricket at Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC), Hamilton Masakadza, expressed happiness in this appointment and hopes it can improve the team's on-field performances. 

"We are delighted to be bringing in Dave, and we count ourselves fortunate and privileged to be able to appoint such a vastly experienced and highly respected head coach at a time we are looking to improve our on-field performances," Masakadza said in a media statement.

Houghton will be supported by Lance Klusner, the team's batting coach. 

Zimbabwe lost the ODI and the T20I series against Afghanistan this month. 

The next assignment for the Zimbabwe team will be T20 World Cup Qualifiers on home soil, scheduled to be played from July 11 to 17. 

This will be the qualification tournament for the 2022 edition of the T20 World Cup.