Sikandar Raza is close to setting two new records for Zimbabwe in T20I cricket before the fourth T20I match against India at the Harare Sports Club on Saturday, July 13.
At 38 years old, Raza needs 17 more runs to be the first Zimbabwe player to reach 2000 runs in T20Is. He also requires two more wickets to surpass Luke Jongwe and become the top wicket-taker for Zimbabwe in this shortest form of the game.
The right-handed batter has scored a total of 1983 runs in 89 Twenty20 International matches, including 14 scores of 50 or more, with a hitting rate of 133.26. Additionally, he has taken 65 wickets in these matches, with an average of 7.05 runs per over, and has twice taken four wickets in a single game.
Despite these achievements, Raza appears more concerned with helping his team recover from two straight losses in the current series. He seemed quite frustrated by his team’s poor performance, especially their mistakes in the field, such as dropping catches and allowing too many runs.
“It seems like the fielding is the issue again. We’re proud of our efforts, but things are falling apart. We let 20 extra runs slip. We still have issues at the beginning, but we support our team. I know they’re giving their best, and when they succeed, we’ll improve,” Raza mentioned after the third game ended.
Raza encouraged the experienced players to rise to the occasion and motivate the younger ones with their outstanding performances. “We’re doing our best. It’s time for us players, including myself, to take charge. I can understand some errors from the younger players, but the veterans need to step up. We must support them. Bennett is performing well at number 3. This is what we have, and this is what we can do.”
