Prosper Utseya

New Delhi: Zimbabwe coach Kevin Curran is a practical man, who doesn’t hesitate to call a spade a spade. Only a few hours after arriving in the capital, the Zimbabwe trainer made no secret of the fact that for his boys, the Champions Trophy would be more of a ‘learning process’ than anything else.

Expectedly, Curran and skipper Prosper Utseya’s first stint with the media proved to be a low-key affair and the queries put across to the duo were more related to Zimbabwe’s possible return to Test cricket in November, 2007.

Curran hinted that he was eager to use the Champions Trophy as the launch pad for his team’s return to longer version of the game. “We are gearing up to get back to Test cricket in November, 2007 and this could be a fine opportunity to sharpen our skills,” he said.

The Zimbabwe coach said that he would like his team to play at least 40 one-day Internationals before November 2007. “With this, it would be great if we manage to play 12 to 16 four-day games. My boys are young, talented and willing to learn always. Given some time, we will be a highly competitive side.”

“More cricket like this Champions Trophy will mature us,” Curran added. “On the top of that, we need to play more first class cricket against stronger teams.”

Asked on his plans for the Champions Trophy, Curran said: “we get to play three matches and looking forward to play against the West Indies and Sri Lanka.

“Both teams have some great players like (Chris) Gayle and (Brian) Lara and (Sanath) Jayasuriya. One gets to learn more by playing against them.”

Utseya, on his part, felt that leading the team at such young age won’t be a hindrance towards the performance of the team.

“We know it is going to be a tough tour. The captaincy has been a challenging one to me and I am really enjoying it,” said the 21-year-old captain.

Asked whether he would depend more on spinner on Indian soil, the Zimbabwe captain, himself an off-spinner, said it would depend on the situations.

He also pointed out that he has a lot of hope on 19-year-old leg spinner Tafadzwa Kamungozi. “He is young and talented. He, too, could be a leading bowler for our team.”