A winter of promise for Zimbabwe

Though the country lies wholly within the tropics, Zimbabwe's seasons are marked by profound changes in scenery. By mid-June, the verdant green overgrowth of the highveld summer has withered to a tawny brown where the vegetation remains. The smell of woodsmoke from hearth-warming fires pervades the evenings even as temperatures plummet with the setting sun. Yet in the centre of Harare there is a remnant of summer. An oval emerald oasis. Harare Sports Club.

Cricket is, arguably, far more suitably played in winter in Zimbabwe. Summer days are punctuated by massive electrical thunderstorms, which usually arrive at 4pm on the dot and rain disruptions are also frequent. In winter, as much as the nights are decidedly frigid, days are characterised by the virtual certainty of cloudless blue skies. Provided you can finish a game by 5pm, it's perfect cricket weather.

This fact certainly hasn't been lost on Zimbabwe: Sri Lanka, India, South Africa and Australia have all been hosted in mid-winter. Indeed, with little else going on, Hararian winters would seem decidedly empty without a little cricket to look forward to. Second-string side or not, India's visit is an event and big crowds can be expected on Friday afternoon, Sunday and at the T20s. The fixtures are also pleasing for a Zimbabwean side which has struggled to attract touring teams, and struggled to cover the costs of those who did visit in recent years.

Zimbabwe might even be in with a shout to win a couple of games, though as coach Dav Whatmore pointed out, this adds an extra element of pressure to proceedings. "[India] are a great team, but then they've changed their group [for this tour]," he said. "And it's almost like a different pressure now: that you're expected to do well. If you win, people might say they're only a second rate team, and if you lose it's 'bloody hell you can't even beat a second rate team'. It's a little bit tricky."

Whatmore has been with Zimbabwe since before the World Cup in Australia, after which he had to weather the departure of Brendan Taylor, Zimbabwe's best batsman in a generation. Yet they did alright without Taylor on their historic trip to Pakistan: both Elton Chigumbura and Sikandar Raza made centuries, while Hamilton Masakadza struck the ball with his usual vim and Sean Williams' batting was predictably energetic. Zimbabwe were also greeted by the warmest welcome and the biggest, noisiest crowds they've ever played in front of.

"With Pakistan not having played for six years, there were just huge crowds," Whatmore said. "What we saw was real emotion. Every Pakistani was singing their anthem. It was really powerful, moving stuff.

"The weather was really hot, conditions were tough for bowlers. And we know that our attack has been one area of our game that we need to improve on. Fielding and fitness is the other. The batting has been terrific, and we continued to show improvement in that area in Pakistan. Mind you, one area we really improved on was our extras, which does make a difference. It was like an average of two a game. Perfect. Little things like that make a difference."

With so many inexperienced faces in India's squad, the visitors will also be looking to work on those little things and gain some experience. Indeed, they tackle some of the same issues Zimbabwe do: if India win, it's only against Zimbabwe, but a series defeat will only add to depressed morale after the losses to Bangladesh last month.

Stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane repeated the refrain that's used whenever anyone, anywhere is playing Zimbabwe - that they're not opposition to be taken lightly - and also suggested that he'd learned a great deal under MS Dhoni but would also use the chance to test out some of his own ideas about captaincy.

The series will certainly not be without its challenges for Rahane, with Zimbabwe's squad ahead in terms of one-day international experience. Winter cricket also suits Zimbabwe's strengths. The feeling within the team is that their seam attack might not be able to match India's on a green track, but that dry pitches that will play slow and low could even things out and make spin more important.

"We're pretty lucky that two of our batsmen in the top six [Raza and Williams] are both spinners," Whatmore said. "Wonderful. And then the legspinner Graeme Cremer, I think most teams around the world would love that. And then when you think about what we had just a few months ago with Solomon Mire, Elton Chigumbura, and now Chamu Chibhabha also showing good progress, I think we're the envy of a few to be honest. They might not have the experience, but bloody hell, I think there's about eight or nine who can bowl in an ODI, and that's a good position to be in."

The real work, insists Whatmore, will be for Zimbabwe to get their heads straight and iron out the mental side of their game. "The hardware is there, you've seen it, it's the software that they've got to work on. Keep their heads, execute. Skillset is important, but so's mindset and that's what we're hoping to improve upon. I don't care if you get hit for four or six, I don't care if you mis-hit and get caught, you make a decision and you execute it to the best of your ability. If you make a wrong decision then fine, we can improve that, but if you can't make a decision with 100% commitment, then that's worse."

The absence of money worries, which have for some time been a perennial problem, will help to clear Zimbabwe's heads, and they can also look forward to the prospect of plenty of cricket coming up: New Zealand arrive in August. West Indies, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan may be on the docket too. So for Zimbabwe, a winter of contentment could well lead to a summer of plenty.