Sri Lanka announced their squad on September 15, 2022. Of the names, one significant inclusion was of their tall spearhead Blessing Muzarabani, who toured Australia for the ODI series that month but did not get a game. Captain Craig Ervine, Tendai Chatara, Wellington Masakadza, and Milton Shumba are all back after missing out due to injuries of various sorts. Along with obvious choices – Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams, Regis Chakabva, Ryan Burl – the squad also features Brad Evans, Tony Munyonga, and second wicketkeeper Clive Madande.

The all-rounders – Raza, Burl, Evans, Jongwe, Madhevere, Munyonga – provide the Zimbabwe outfit with a balance matched by few sides. Ervine, Williams, Shumba, and Chakabva (and if needed, his understudy, Madande), form an excellent top order; and backed by the all-rounders, Muzarabani, Chatara, Masakadza, and Ngarava are a reasonably strong bowling attack.

Zimbabwe started their year on an awkward note, losing 2-3 to Namibia and 0-3 to Afghanistan, both at home. However, they swept the Qualifiers with five wins out of five, beating Singapore, Jersey, the USA, Papua New Guinea, and the Netherlands by huge margins. They kept the momentum going to beat Bangladesh 2-1 at home. Even in ODIs, they beat Bangladesh 2-1 and won an ODI in Australia for the first time.

Zimbabwe will have to play the First Round at the 2022 T20 World Cup. In Group B, they will play Ireland on October 17, the West Indies on October 19, and Scotland on October 21, at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart. Two teams will advance from the group to the next round.

Zimbabwe squad: T20 World Cup 2022

Batters

Craig Ervine (c), Sean Williams, Milton Shumba

Wicketkeepers

Regis Chakabva, Clive Madande

All-rounders

Sikandar Raza, Ryan Burl, Brad Evans, Luke Jongwe, Wesley Madhevere, Tony Munyonga

Bowlers

Tendai Chatara, Wellington Masakadza, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava

Standby

Tanaka Chivanga, Innocent Kaia, Kevin Kasuza, Tadiwanashe Marunami, Victor Nyauchi