OTD | Former Zimbabwe Cricketer Hamilton Masakadza was born in 1983 

At a time when Zimbabwean cricket was going through some tough times two names dominated proceedings. One was Brendan Taylor while the other was Hamilton Masakadza. Before Brendan Taylor made his debut, Hamilton Masakadza made history by becoming the youngest-ever Test centurion for Zimbabwe. 

The right-handed batter had to endure massive ups and downs in his cricket career. In the middle of the 2000’s Zimbabwean cricket were facing lots of backlash due to the political turmoil. 

Once Zimbabwe came back into the international fold, Hamilton Masakadza had to undergo inconsistent form with the bat. By the time he ended his cricketing career, Hamilton Masakadza was regarded as one of the best talents to come out of Zimbabwe. 

Hamilton Masakadza: Zimbabwe’s talented batter 

There was a lot of hype when Hamilton Masakadza made his foray into international cricket for Zimbabwe. In his very first game, he scored a Test ton to mark his grand entry into the longest format. 

Young Hamilton Masakadza showed great grit and temperament to face off against the West Indian side. Soon the young batter became an integral part of the team before the local turmoil hit. 

Once Zimbabwean cricket was back into the fold, it was up to Hamilton Masakadza to take control. The burly batter though showed plenty of inconsistency with the bat at different times of his career. 

Hamilton Masakadza was also given the captaincy of the team and he led the side with mixed results. Hamilton Masakadza ended his career as the 4th highest run scorer for Zimbabwe in the ODI format with over 5600 runs. 

He also played 66 games in the T20I format and scored 1663 runs with 11 fifties. By the end of his career, the runs began to dry up for Hamilton Masakadza and questions began to be asked. 

The right-handed batter played his final ever game for Zimbabwe in a T20I versus Afghanistan in Bangladesh. Zimbabwe won the game by 7 wickets as Hamilton Masakadza scored 71 from 42 balls with the help of four boundaries and five sixes to end his career on a high. 

Also read: OTD | Deepak Chahar was born in 1992