Zimbabwe's Masakadza focuses on cricket tournament after ban

Zimbabwe's cricket captain Hamilton Masakadza said Thursday that his team was focused on the upcoming tri-nation Twenty20 tournament in Bangladesh, despite being suspended by the world governing body.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) suspended Zimbabwe in July over a failure to keep the sport free from government interference, putting the cricketing future of the country under a cloud.

But the ban is effective only in events hosted by the ICC, allowing the team to participate in the Bangladeshi tournament set to begin Friday, featuring the hosts and Afghanistan.

"Obviously a lot of things happened. That's all behind the scenes. At the end of the day as cricketers, our job is to... play the best cricket on the field," Masakadza told reporters in Dhaka.

"The first and main thing for players is to concentrate on cricket and then put our best foot forward going out and do your job for your country tomorrow."
"Though I know the both sides are very strong, we have a lot of successes in Twenty20 cricket here. So I don't think we are far behind them at all."