Ainsley Ndlovu

An immensely talented left-arm spinner hailing from Bulawayo, Ainsley Ndlovu broke into the Zimbabwean national set-up in June 2019 four years after making his first-class debut in the 2014-15 Logan Cup in February 2015.

Ndlovu inclusion was due to his exploits for the Tuskers Franchise across all formats. Playing in a side flooded with international stars, including the likes of Craig Ervine, Sean Williams, and Chris Mpofu, to name but a few, Ndlovu has enjoyed plenty of success in domestic cricket.

The Bulawayo-born took 9 wickets in 2 games of Logan Cup, a domestic first-class tournament, and also scalped 6 wickets in 6 games of the Pro-50 tournament the same season which caught the selector’s eye, and finally made his international debut against the Netherlands on June 19th, 2019 and became the 26th player to take a first-ball wicket by dismissing the Dutch debutant Tobias Visee. 

The Matabeleland-based cricketer made his Test debut against Sri Lanka in January 2020 in which he went wicketless, giving 107 runs in 28 overs. He took 2 wickets in his second Test against Bangladesh, breaking the important partnership of Mominul Haque and Mushfiqur Rahim in the process. 

Unfortunately, Ndlovu was excluded from Zimbabwe’s recent fixtures, due to favouring all-rounders over a spin bowling specialist. However, it seems only a matter of time before the talented tweaker returns to the national fold.

(As of May 2021)