IPL 2021: Who is Heath Streak, the former Zimbabwe skipper under fixing cloud

Former Zimbabwe captain and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bowling coach Heath Streak has been banned by International Cricket Council for eight years from all forms of cricketing activities for breaching the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Anti-Corruption Code. Streak has accepted all the charges against him that involve disclosing inside information about T20 leagues around the world including the Indian Premier League (IPL), Pakistan Super League (PSL), Lanka Premier League (LPL) and others. The five charges also include leaking information about international fixtures and obstructing or delaying an investigation.

Cricketing career

Streak made his international debut in November 1993 against South Africa in an ODI. The 47-year-old’s last international appearance was against India in a Test in September 2005. He was also the top performer for Zimbabwe, taking six wickets against India at home.

Streak turned out in 65 Tests and 189 ODIs over his 12-year long career. The former skipper has 216 wickets in Tests with 1990 runs. To compare, no other Zimbabwe bowler has even crossed the 100-wicket mark in Test cricket. In the ODI department, he has 237 wickets from 187 games, 104 more wickets than the next bowler on the list.

The 47-year-old was considered an all-rounder for his performances in the middle order of Zimbabwe and remained only 10 runs shy of 2,000 Test runs from 107 innings. He has one century and 11 half-centuries in the longest format of the game next to his name.

In ODIs, he scored 2,943 runs from 189 games at an average of 28.29 including 13 half-centuries. He is the only Zimbabwe cricketer to have more than 1,000 runs and 100 wickets in Test cricket. Similarly, he is the only Zimbabwe cricketer to score more than 2,000 runs and 200 wickets in ODIs.

Record against Indian cricket team

Streak turned out in 9 Tests against Team India, picking up 30 wickets at an average of 29.63 including a best of 6/73. In ODIs, Streak picked up 39 wickets in 35 ODIs against the Indian cricket team and also scored 532 runs with three half-centuries.

Coaching stints

The Bulawayo-born cricketer was named his country’s bowling coach in 2009. Before that, Streak also featured in Indian Cricket League for the Ahmedabad Rockets franchise which meant he was not eligible to play in IPL’s inaugural season the following year. More recently, he was Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) bowling coach in the 2018 edition. Similarly, he was involved with franchises in other leagues as well.

He was the bowling coach of the now-defunct IPL franchise Gujarat Lions in 2016 and 2017 before being roped in by KKR in 2018 as Lakshmipathy Balaji’s replacement.

However, the statement from Alex Marshall, ICC General Manager, Integrity Unit reveals that despite engaging in illegal activities, his “offences did not affect the outcomes of any relevant matches”.