Cricketer recovering after stabbing Sunday

Cricketer recovering after stabbing

Sunday, 02 September 2012 11:15

HARARE - Zimbabwe fringe cricketer Regis Chakabva is recovering from stab wounds he sustained during a recent robbery in South Africa.

The 24-year-old wicketkeeper-batsman was attacked by an unknown assailant at the notorious Park Station bus terminus in central Johannesburg in late July and lost his mobile phone.

Chakabva was coming from Durban where he had visited some family members when the attack took place in the early hours after disembarking from a bus.

“Before I got out some guy just came from nowhere and got hold of my jacket and asked for my phone and at that moment I was really shocked as to what was happening,” Chakabva told the Daily News on Sunday.

“I took my time thinking of what to do, looked at him and oh my gosh he had a sharp knife right up to my face and in the process that’s when he stabbed me twice in the right arm and once in the leg.

“After stabbing me, he forcibly took away my phone from my pocket and disappeared.

“I had the wallet in my other pocket and I think because the phone was in a pouch he might probably have thought that he had taken my wallet.”

During the attack, Chakabva was puzzled by the reaction from the onlookers, who witnessed the attack but failed to raise any alarm.

“It was already busy by that time and people were walking up and down the streets and other guys where actually right by my side,” he said.

“I looked at them hoping they were going to come to my rescue but I guess they were also afraid for their lives and didn’t come to help me.”

Chakabva was bed ridden for a number of days after the attack and struggled with walking for about two weeks.

At the moment he is almost back to 100 percent full fitness and is back in training.

The 24-year-old Chakabva has played two Tests for his country having made his debut in November last year against New Zealand at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.

Chakabva has also played 13 One Day Internationals with a high score of 45 after making his debut in Nairobi, Kenya in October 2008.

Chakabva finds inspiration from retired Zimbabwe wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu and was widely tipped as his direct replacement.

He was born on September 20 1987 in Harare in Highfield where he quickly took up the sport before earning a place at the school of cricket excellence at Churchill Boys High.