"Virat Kohli has all the qualities of a great leader," says former Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu

Q: How was it like to face the deadly Pakistani bowling line-up comprising of Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar in your debut Test innings where you remained unbeaten on 51 at the Harare sports club in 2002?

Tatenda Taibu: I think that is the innings that changed my Test career because we decided as a team, I think first of all it was the speech that was given by Alistair Campbell because he was the captain at that time and he gave such a speech that I remember very well that I got so confident from the speech that he gave and we decided that we’re going to prepare a green track even though we knew that the Pakistani bowling line-up is not the one to prepare a green track, but we decided that our best chances to win against Pakistan was to bowl them out. I mean to win a Test match, you have to bowl a team out. We didn’t believe that we have a bowling line-up to bowl out a Pakistani side on a flat deck but were capable enough to bowl them out on a green track. So, that meant the batsman had to come out of their comfort zone and face that attack on a green top. So, that was the plan and because of that speech that he gave I got so confident that I knew I was going to do well.

For most of the time I batted with Andy and we got hit on our helmets, I got hit on the ribs, on the bicep by Shoaib Akhtar and Andy would laugh about it and talk about it in the middle. I mean what more do you want as a youngster facing a bowlers like Shoaib Akhtar, Waqar Younis, Saqlain Mushtaq and I think Mohammed Sami was playing as well, with your role model at the other end. What more does a guy want, I really cherish those moments which has changed my test career from then on because I gained a lot of respect from that innings from my own teammates.

Q: You were appointed as captain at a very young age, how difficult was it to lead a group of players who were unsure of their future at that time?

Tatenda Taibu: Captaincy wasn’t tough for me during that time, I had already been the vice-captain and my teammates respected me, big time. Things kept moving for me very quickly that captaincy really never burdened me because someone gave me a piece of advice, “You know Tatenda before you are a captain – You are a batsman and before you are a captain- You are a wicketkeeper” So, in other words, I only had to concentrate on batting when I was batting and then captaincy when I’m fielding because while batting you have very few things to think about – whether to up the rate, what time to declare and things like that which we never got into as Zimbabwe for me to decide those things. But when you’re fielding you got to take care of fielding positions and bowling changes, but I always believe that I’m a wicketkeeper before I’m a captain. So, I never thought about the whole situation as the Zimbabwe captain because I used to get so engrossed into the game or a series to think outside of that.

Q: Your best ODI performances, in fact, both the ODI hundreds came against a strong South African bowling attack. How was it different performing against South Africa and other countries? Also, can you brief us about Mark Boucher sledging you for your average? Ironically, he finished with an average less than that of yours.

Tatenda Taibu: You see, South Africa has got a little bit of story behind it. There is a series we played, we’re coming from Bangladesh and I played so well in that series- I think I scored my highest test score there and then went to South Africa where we lost badly. You know, everyone who played South Africa know that South Africa had a game plan to attack the captain and they did attack me and attacked me well and they chirped me. I think there is a clip of Boucher chirping at me, that’s exactly the series- the last innings I started chirping back. Normally I used to chirp every now and then, I used to think it’s a waste of time and I would rather concentrate on what I was doing. So, when I came back from the tour one of my coach Bruce Mako called me and said “Tatenda! You were chirping! Weren’t you?” to which I replied Yes, and he said “Why? I knew you as someone who concentrates on the game and believed in shaking the hands with the players after they congratulate you for doing well."

I said I had nothing to lose- I had done badly both as a captain and as a player. The next piece of advice he gave me was “The next time you play South Africa and whenever you feel that anger caused by that chirps, use that energy to practice in the nets before the game." So, from that time on I used to score plenty of runs against South Africa and that is why I ended up with such a record against South Africa.

Q: Back in 2007 at Harare Sports club chasing an uphill target of 324 against the likes of Pollock, Ntini, Morkel and Philander, you almost won the game single-handedly but fell short off target by 28 runs. Was that the best knock in your career?

Tatenda Taibu: Yeah, that’s definitely one of the best innings that I’ve played. I always feel settled when I face tougher oppositions than when I played what I felt was a weaker team. I mean I used to struggle big time playing our club cricket than I used to feel playing international cricket. In club cricket, I was really terrible- I mean if you would watch me in the club cricket and then watch me in the nets you would never pick me. Only the people that knew me knew that I never played with my ability, but I played with my heart. So, the higher the task the more at ease I felt. So, to answer your question – Yes, that was one of the best knocks that I’ve played.