While his initial place in the national team owed much to the withdrawal of several white players after
Heath Streak's sacking as captain, Utseya more than earned his place subsequently. He continued to hold a place in a weakened national side and took up the captaincy from
Terry Duffin in 2006. Utseya's bowling during the tour to
West Indies in May 2006 where his flight and spin belied his lack of experience and years. He was consistently able to stem the flow of runs in the middle overs, and he provided two of the series highlights and one when he comprehensively beat Brian Lara with successive deliveries in the first match in Trinidad and the other his remarkable diving, juggling boundary catch in the second. Utseya is the first and joint world record holder for conceding the fewest runs (six runs) in a
T20 International after bowling the complete quota of overs (four overs is the maximum quota in a T20 match). Utseya tendered his resignation as national captain after the side's disappointing performance at the
T20 World Cup in May 2010 saying that he was stepping down in the interest of the team's future development. He led Zimbabwe in 67 one-day internationals, with 20 victories, and all 10 of the Twenty20 internationals the team has played. Utseya took a
hat-trick against
South Africa at
Harare Sports Club and became the second Zimbabwean to claim a hat-trick when he dismissed three South African batsmen in consecutive deliveries in the third One-Day International match of the
Tri-series in August 2014. Utseya accounted for the wickets of
Quinton de Kock,
Rilee Rossouw and
David Miller. In process, he also took his career best figure and ended his innings with a figure of 5/36 == Bowling action==