Fungayi Munyoro-Chingaira

Sports Reporter

HARARE-Former Mega Market Mountaineers coach and Zimbabwe senior national men’s team coach Shepherd Makunura has died. He was 46.

Makunura died this morning at a private clinic in Harare.

Zimbabwe Cricket media and communication manager Darlington Majonga confirmed the sad news to Mirror Sport.

“It is with great sorrow and heavy hearts that Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) announces the death of Shepherd Tichaendepi Makunura at the age of 46. He had been unwell and lost his battle in this morning at a private hospital in Harare,” said Majonga.

 At the time of his untimely passing, Makunura was doubling up as Fielding Coach with the Zimbabwe senior men’s national team and head coach of Southern Rocks.

Makunura was born in Harare on October 23, 1976. He started playing cricket at Chengu Primary School in Highfield where he earned a scholarship to Prince Edward High School for his secondary education.

A right-hand batter, Makunura was one of the brightest prospects to emerge from ZC’s development programme for high-density areas as he made it into the Zimbabwe Under-14 and Under-15 sides.

He made his first-class debut for Mashonaland A in the 2001/02 season, when he played three matches, scoring 62 runs against Midlands in his second game and 41 runs against Mashonaland B in his third game.

His career was cut short in 2007 after suffering an Achilles tendon rupture and he became a full time coach

He was the Zimbabwe A team coach for the incoming tours by Canada and Kenya in 2018, the same year that he also took the Zimbabwe XI side to the Africa Cup tournament in South Africa.

On the domestic front, Makunura made history with Mountaineers by becoming the first coach in Zimbabwe to win three consecutive Logan Cup titles between 2017 and 2019 before he went on to claim the coveted silverware again the following season with Southern Rocks.

In 2018, he joined the Zimbabwe senior men’s national team technical set-up as fielding coach, a position he held until his untimely death.

ZC Managing Director Givemore Makoni described Makunura as a loyal and dedicated servant of cricket.

“On behalf of Zimbabwe Cricket, our deepest sympathies are with his family, colleagues and friends as they come to terms with losing such an affable and wonderful man

“We have lost one of our very best coaches, an unsung hero of our game who has been instrumental in the unearthing and nurturing of many of Zimbabwe’s talented players,” said Makoni.

Makunura is survived by his wife, Sinikiwe Mpofu, a former Zimbabwe international cricketer who is the current Zimbabwe senior women’s national team assistant coach and two children.