Tatenda Taibu facts for kids

Tatenda Taibu (born 14 May 1983) is a former cricket player from Zimbabwe. He was the captain of the Zimbabwe national cricket team. Tatenda played as a wicket-keeper and a batsman.

For many years, he was the youngest Test captain ever. He led his team against Sri Lanka in 2004. Later, Rashid Khan from Afghanistan became the youngest. Today, Taibu works as the Head Coach for Cricket PNG. This is the national men's team for Papua New Guinea, called the PNG Barramundis.

In 2012, when he was only 29, Taibu decided to stop playing cricket. He wanted to focus on his church work. However, in 2018, he returned to play first-class cricket in Sri Lanka.

Tatenda Taibu's Cricket Career

Starting Young in Cricket

Tatenda Taibu began playing first-class cricket when he was just 16 years old. He joined the Zimbabwe national team in 2001 at age 18.

In 2003, he became the vice-captain. Then, in April 2004, he was named the national captain. This made him the youngest Test captain in history at that time. He held this record until 2019. Rashid Khan of Afghanistan became captain when he was 8 days younger than Taibu.

Taking a Break and Returning

From 2005 to 2007, Taibu took a break from playing for Zimbabwe. During this time, he played for teams in Namibia and South Africa.

He came back to the Zimbabwean team in July 2007. He scored a century (100 runs) in a game against India A. The next month, he scored his highest ever in a One Day International (ODI) game. He made 107 runs against South Africa. This was the first time a Zimbabwean player scored an ODI century against South Africa.

Key Matches and Achievements

In 2010, Taibu continued to play well. He scored 73 runs against South Africa. In the 2011 Cricket World Cup, he scored 98 runs against Canada. His team won that match by 175 runs.

When Zimbabwe started playing Test cricket again in 2011, Taibu was chosen for the team. He scored half-centuries (50 runs or more) in three different Test matches.

On March 20, 2011, Taibu reached a big milestone. He became the fifth Zimbabwean player to score 3,000 runs in ODIs. He achieved this during a game against Kenya at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. He also set a record partnership for Zimbabwe with Stuart Matsikenyeri. They scored 188 runs together for the sixth wicket in an ODI.

Life After Cricket

Retirement and New Focus

On July 10, 2012, Tatenda Taibu announced he was retiring from cricket. He was 29 years old. He said he wanted to dedicate his time to church work. He felt it was his "true calling."

He finished his career with 1,546 runs in Test matches. He also made 57 catches and 5 stumpings. In ODIs, he scored 3,393 runs, with 114 catches and 33 stumpings. He is Zimbabwe's fourth highest run-scorer in ODIs. He also has the second most dismissals as a wicketkeeper, after Andy Flower.

Beyond the Field

After retiring, Taibu moved to Liverpool, England. In 2016, he joined a cricket club there as a player, coach, and development officer.

Later, he decided to return to Zimbabwe. In June 2016, he took on a role with Zimbabwe Cricket. He helped choose players and worked on developing new talent. Thanks to his efforts, players like Brendan Taylor and Kyle Jarvis returned to play for Zimbabwe in 2017.

In 2019, Taibu wrote a book called 'Keeper of Faith'. In his book, he shares stories about his childhood and the situation in Zimbabwe.

See also

In Spanish: Tatenda Taibu para niños