The Sunday Mail
Sports Reporter
HE might have waited for almost a decade to wear the famous Zimbabwe cricket team jersey but for Sikandar Raza his journey in the Chevrons is one he looks back on with a wide smile.
The Pakistan-born all-rounder made his debut for Zimbabwe A in 2012 before making his official debut for the Chevrons the following year.
He has gone on to play 186 matches in all formats of the game, scoring 5 331 runs and claiming 123 wickets.
The 36-year-old describes his 10 years in national team colours as life-changing.
“It has been almost ten years in the Zimbabwe cricket national team.
“It has been a life-changing experience; a very humbling experience full of ups and downs that have come along the way, and a lot of lessons have been learnt,” said Raza.
“I never thought I will achieve what I have achieved and never thought I will be good enough to achieve what I have achieved, but, for me, it is down to the prayers from all around the world that have helped me along my journey.
“I have a lot of good things to say about Zimbabwe cricket; there are no words which can do justice to how I feel about representing Zimbabwe.”
Despite the success he has enjoyed so far, Raza still yearns for more.
“I am not proud of what I have achieved so far but I am extremely humbled with what I have achieved. Hopefully, I will go and achieve more before I call time on my career.”
His dream is to write his own piece of history by becoming one of the world’s top all-rounders.
“The competition for me never lies in Zimbabwe; the competition for me is everywhere else in the world.
“I want to be part of those rankings in the world … My dream is to put the country on the map so that Zimbabwe is always represented when you look at those rankings … so there is that feeling that Zimbabwe can produce fine cricketers.”
Raza, who has created a bond with fans through his passionate celebrations during matches, revealed that he is always proud of wearing the national team jersey.
“It is a mixture of a lot of things when you put on a jersey. It is not yourself that you are representing . . . I represent my family, the fans that have been there for me, Zimbabweans, the Pakistanis and fans in other countries I have gone to play in and created memories.
“So the passion in my celebration is the mixture of all those people.”
Having played a pivotal role in Zimbabwe’s qualification for the ICC T20 World Cup to be hosted by Australia in October, Raza was left speechless after he was rewarded with a portrait of himself by an appreciative fan.
“This gentleman ran to me and said ‘well done in the qualifiers’; so I figured out that he knows me, and he asked me politely to come to his shop, so I went with him to his shop and I saw my portrait.
“I thought he printed the portrait for his shop but he took it off and said, ‘Sir, this is for you.’ “I was moved; I was speechless. The love was unbelievable.
“This is one example, but there are a lot of people out there who value not just myself but the whole Chevrons, and it is something that drives us to do the best for the country.”
Raza, who was named player of the tournament in the recent ICC T20 World Cup qualifiers, refused to take credit for Zimbabwe’s qualification.
“I don’t think that I was the only person who made a difference for the Chevrons to qualify.
“At times it is easy to take credit but there were a lot of positives from the team that helped me do my job.
“Collectively, we should be given equal credit. Everybody did their part exceptionally well and we qualified for the World Cup.
“Our next target is to get into the Super 12 and play with the big boys, and put Zimbabwe rightly where it belongs.”
For now, they have the touring Bangladesh side to take care of in the One-Day Internationals (ODIs), having triumphed 2-1 over the Tigers in the T20 series.
