Zimbabwe coach Kevin Curran is hopeful his unfancied side will make their mark in the ICC [Images] Champions Trophy in India as they bid to return to Test cricket.

The southern African side were the first team to arrive for the October 7 to November 5 event. They are due to play the qualifying rounds against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka [Images] and defending champions West Indies [Images] from October 7.

West Indies and Sri Lanka are favoured to take the two berths for the eight-team final rounds starting on October 15.

"The bottom line for the whole tournament is, for us to try and win two of the three matches to put us in a position to qualify," Curran told a news conference on Saturday.

"We got a young squad here with a lot of talent," he said. "With exposure in tournaments like this, they will certainly improve."

Zimbabwe have been forced to select rookie teams since April 2004, when most of their established players quit the game or opted to further their careers in other countries after a dispute with the board that followed Heath Streak's axing as captain.

They last won a one-day international against a major cricket nation when they beat the West Indies by 21 runs in Harare in November 2003.

Allegations of mismanagement have been levelled at senior cricket officials. The Zimbabwe government took control of running the game in January and one of the first decisions taken was to withdraw the national team from the Test arena.

Curran said the aim was to re-build the side to return to the Test-fold by November 2007.

Zimbabwe were routed 3-0 by South Africa in a recent ODI series, but a 3-2 victory in a preceding home series against Bangladesh gives hope of winning at least one game in India.