Zimbabwe head coach Makhaya Ntini had some choice words following his side’s eight-wicket defeat in the second ODI against India on Monday.

Ntini’s words have put him under the spotlight again, following his recent comments about the BCCI and Cricket South Africa.

Another unconvincing display from Zimbabwe saw them go 2-0 down in the home series against India, and with that, the series defeat. It’s been a harsh introduction to international coaching for the former Proteas paceman. ‘I almost hanged myself, if there was a tomato tree outside I would have hanged myself in that tomato tree. It’s no good. We have experienced players with us who can easily read the game. We were in the perfect position,’ Ntini said after the loss.

These comments follow his frustration towards BCCI and CSA for not sending their best teams to Zimbabwe. ‘We want to compete with the big boys. We’re creating a new venture here. We want to make sure that this country gets to play more games, and if you send us a team that is not your strongest team, we’re going to put them under the carpet so that they go home and tell people that they need to send their strongest team.

‘The first thing I asked when I got here was, “What is CSA doing to help?” And I picked up that South Africa are not keen on visiting here and they don’t want much to do with Zimbabwe,’ he added.

‘It was sad to hear that, along with the fact that that I was told they nearly didn’t want to come to Zimbabwe for the tri-series they played with Zimbabwe and Australia two years ago. I’d like to find out why they nearly pulled out of that series and also ask why they don’t want to support Zimbabwe, [especially since] they are the only other good cricketing nation on the continent.’

Ntini has been tasked – alongside batting coach Lance Klusener – with improving the quality of cricket in Zimbabwe, but recent results suggest there’s a long way to go in order to compete with the likes of the Proteas and India.

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