Zimbabwe ODI Squad: Raza Leads with Cremer and Taylor's Bold Returns
Zimbabwe have named a 15-man squad for their ODI series against Australia, and it reads like a collision of eras.
Sikandar Raza, the heartbeat of this side for the past few years, steps up as captain, filling in for regular ODI skipper Richard Ngarava, who is sidelined with a lower-back injury. Raza has carried Zimbabwe with bat, ball and personality; now he carries the armband too.
But it’s the names around him that will stir the memories.
Cremer’s long road back
Graeme Cremer is back in the ODI fold for the first time since 2018. A former captain, a seasoned leg-spinner, and a figure many thought international 50-over cricket had seen the last of.
His only ODI outing against Australia came at the 2011 World Cup, a lifetime ago in cricketing terms. Since then he has drifted out and then edged his way back in, first through the T20I setup last year, then on the T20 World Cup stage earlier this year, and more recently in the Namibia T20I tri-series. Now, the full return: ODIs, at home, against Australia.
For a side that has often lacked variety and experience in its attack, Cremer’s inclusion is more than nostalgia. It is a calculated gamble on control, nous and a leg-spinner who has seen most things the game can throw at him.
Taylor closes in on Flower
If Cremer’s recall tugs at one thread of Zimbabwe’s past, Brendan Taylor’s return yanks at another.
The 40-year-old keeper-batter, Zimbabwe’s second-highest ODI run-scorer of all time, is back again. He briefly resurfaced in 2025, playing two ODIs against Sri Lanka after a four-year hiatus. Now he returns with a landmark in sight: he is just 81 runs short of surpassing Andy Flower’s all-time ODI tally for Zimbabwe.
That number will hang over the series. Every time Taylor walks out at Harare Sports Club, the stands will know exactly what’s at stake. Runs for the team, yes. But also a record that has defined an era of Zimbabwean batting.
Taylor will share keeping duties in the squad with Tadiwanashe Marumani, another option behind the stumps and a reminder that this is not just a reunion tour. There is a future to shape as well.
Big absences and a ruthless omission
Zimbabwe will have to do without two key seamers. Along with Ngarava’s back injury, Tendai Chatara misses out due to an Achilles tendon problem, stripping the attack of experience and new-ball craft.
There is another notable change. Clive Madande, the keeper-batter who featured in Zimbabwe’s last ODI series against Bangladesh in July, has not been picked. No injury, no caveat. Just a selection call that underlines how fiercely contested those middle-order and wicketkeeping spots have become with Taylor and Marumani in the mix.
Australia return to Harare
Australia’s arrival in Zimbabwe for an ODI series carries its own sense of history. The last time the two sides met in a one-day international in Harare was back in 2014, in a triangular series that also featured South Africa.
This time, the focus is squarely on a three-match contest, all at Harare Sports Club, scheduled for 15, 18 and 20 September.
Raza’s leadership, Cremer’s leg-spin, Taylor’s chase of Flower’s record, the gaps left by Ngarava and Chatara – it all converges on those three dates in Harare.
For Zimbabwe, it is more than just another home series. It is a test of depth, a nod to the past, and a sharp look at what this team wants to be against one of the game’s most ruthless opponents.
