COLTART TORCHES CHEVRONS RACISM STORM AFTER SHOCKING SOCIAL BEN CURRAN CLAIMS ON X

FORMER Sports Minister David Coltart has torched yet another explosive racism storm in Zimbabwe cricket – just days after the Chevrons enjoyed their best run at the T20 World Cup. The Chevrons transformed themselves into the toast of the country with their success in India and Sri Lanka, where they reached the T20 World Cup Super Eight stage, for the first time. They wrote the fairy-tale success story of the tournament by topping their group and beating former champions Australia, and hosts Sri Lanka, along the way.

The success enabled the Chevrons to qualify for the 2028 T20 World Cup and helped them win the respect, around the world, which they had lost as they struggled in the wilderness. For the first time in decades, the whole country united around the Chevrons and, after years of failure, they transformed themselves into a team which was a symbol of success. However, Coltart, who has a history of boardroom battles with the Zimbabwe Cricket leaders, decided to find some faultlines, created by imaginary racial divisions, within the Chevrons.

It started with a tweet from a handle, run by someone called Maita Dziva, questioning why Ben Curran was not given a chance to play in the dead rubber final match against South Africa. “I honestly thought that today was a good day to play Ben Curran. Zimbabwe just missed out on a perfect opportunity to get things and theories right,” read the tweet.

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It torched a Twitter storm and dragged the ghost of racism into the Chevron’s beautiful World Cup adventure. “Sadly, he (Ben Curran) was the wrong colour,” said the Bulawayo Mayor on X, in his reply. His insinuation was that Curran, who was drafted into the team as a replacement for the injured Brendan Taylor, would have been included in the XI who faced the Proteas if he was black.

For a team whose three star players–Brian Bennett, Blessing Muzarabani and skipper Sikandar Raza–represented virtually all the races which make this country, Coltart’s remarks were an insult to the racial harmony, which the Chevrons displayed throughout their campaign in India and Sri Lanka. Coltart has a history of ugly boardroom battles with the ZC leadership.

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