Tatenda Taibu has experienced everything possible, good and bad, in a short period of time. Playing for the national side at the age of 18, being appointed the vice-captain at the age of 19, becoming the youngest captain at the age of 21, announcing his retirement at the age of 22 and then coming back to the fold at the age of 24. This roller-coaster ride has symbolized Taibu.

Taibu's solid abilities was talked about by many in Zimbabwe and the selectors had a close eye on him. Before he could play his first domestic match, he was asked to be on standby for Andy Flower's injury during Zimbabwe's tour in 1999-2000. A comedy of errors occurred when Taibu was about to play his first match for Mashonaland. He apparently turned up at the wrong ground and thus his debut was put on hold.

Taibu had a torrid start to his ODI career. The lowest point came during the tri-series in Sri Lanka featuring the West Indies. In three matches, he was dismissed for a duck but he showed a good temperament with the gloves. His Test debut was equally torrid and it took Taibu some years to get used to international cricket. His first bright moment came in the 2003 World Cup where he played some crucial knocks lower down the order and was effective behind the wickets. The highlight being his back to the wall innings of 53 against New Zealand that helped Zimbabwe recover.

Following the player's rebellion in 2004, Taibu was appointed the captain of an inexperienced team and Zimbabwe's plunge to the bottom began. His personal form during his tenure was very good. He brought out his best when he scored a 153 against Bangladesh in the 2004 series. However, the prolonged slump of the team continued to take a toll. He found no backing from the board and after immense pressure, he retired from all forms of international cricket. After some domestic cricket in Bangladesh and England, he returned to the national team in 2007 and has performed admirably.

Taibu is a pint sized dynamite. His running is so fleet-footed that he could even challenge Usain Bolt in the event of a race. Zimbabwe cricket is indebted to the contributions of Taibu and he will be the key for Zimbabwe's prospects as they come back into the Test fold later in the year.

When Zimbabwe were back to playing Test cricket, Taibu stroked half-centuries in each of Zimbabwe's one-off Tests against Bangladesh, Pakistan and New Zealand. In the interim, he became the first Zimbabwe cricketer to set foot on the lucrative Indian T20 League when Kolkata Knight Riders snapped him up. The roller coaster career was cut short by Taibu himself at the age of 29 as he shifted focus on answering the Lord's call and working for the church.

By Siddharth Vishwanathan