The Sunday Mail
Sports Reporter
SIKANDAR RAZA(pictured) cut the figure of a man totally annoyed with himself as he strolled back to the pavilion of the BR SABV Ekana Cricket Stadium on Friday night.
Faced with the daunting task of chasing down 258 runs set by Lucknow Super Giants, Raza was involved in what could have been a game-changing partnership with Punjab Kings top-order batter Atharva Taide had it not been for one miscued hit.
Their third-wicket partnership reignited the Kings’ chase as they whacked, slogged and cut their way to a 48-ball 74-run partnership.
Unfortunately, all that promise ended when Raza failed to get enough bat onto a Yash Thakur delivery, which fell safely into the hands of Krunal Pandya right at the boundary.
The Zimbabwe all-rounder’s innings ended at 36 runs off 22 balls.
His dismissal effectively snuffed the fire out of the Punjab Kings’ chase.
The Super Giants went on to win the match by 56 runs, etching their names in the history books in the process.
Their 256 for five is the highest total in the IPL season so far and the second highest in the tournament’s history.
However, the disappointment of Friday night’s defeat can hardly overshadow what appears to be a brilliant Indian Premier League debut season and, more importantly, memorable week for Raza.
He turned 37 on April 24 and was able to celebrate the day with his family.
“My birthday this time was special because I got to spend it with my family,” he said.
“It was different in that I finally managed to see my family as compared to recent years when I was either flying, playing in some tournament or not in the country.
“I barely got to spend my birthday in the house with the family, but they managed to travel here and join me,” he said.
Raza also managed to get a surprise from his new Punjab Kings’ family.
“The Punjab Kings players and staff ordered a cake, which was sent to my hotel in Dubai.
“It was a very pleasant surprise from the Kings team, and this even made the day even more special.”
Raza, who has seen his current form with the Chevrons earn him the moniker “National Treasurer”, is literally living the dream with Kings at the IPL.
He recently made history when he scored his maiden IPL half-century to help his team to a two-wicket victory over, ironically, Lucknow Super Giants earlier this month.
“My IPL experience has been great so far, and I am enjoying every minute of it.
“The half-century was important to me because we won the game,” he said.
With the debut and maiden experience now done and dusted, he hopes to now pass it on to the next generation.
The Chevrons all-rounder recently paid for the Zimbabwe Under-19 team to go and watch the Kings play Mumbai Indians.
The team is currently in India as part of their World Cup preparations.
“It was not part of my birthday plans, and I was always going to do it, anyway,” said Raza on his generous gesture.
“It was also not about coming to see me play, but to watch some of the world’s greatest players in action.
“I wanted them to come and enjoy the environment of 50 000 or 60 000 people in one stadium; to see, feel the buzz and experience to be on the other side of the rope.
“I would love to see these kids being part of the IPL in the future.”
After the experience of watching an IPL match live, the young Chevrons were treated to another surprise by Raza, when he sourced cricket shoes from Puma.
“I have a good relationship with Puma and decided to order spikes for the youngsters.”
