The Sunday News
Brandon Moyo, Sports Reporter
JUST to highlight the kind of impact Sikandar Raza has made not only to Zimbabwean cricket but globally, the all-rounder is up for the biggest accolade that any cricketer could ever win.
Raza is nominated for three accolades, International Cricket Council (ICC) T20, ODI and the overall Player of the Year. The Zimbabwean stalwart will be up against some of the best in the world. In the T20 section the Zimbabwean is up against Sam Curran (England), son of the late former Zimbabwe coach and captain Kevin Curran, Mohammad Rizwan (Pakistan) as well as Suryakumar Yadav (India). For the ODI accolade, Raza is nominated together with Babar Azam (Pakistan), Adam Zampa (Australia) and Shai Hope (West Indies).
Azam, Ben Stokes and Tim Southee are the names the 36-year old Raza has to contend with for the ICC Cricketer of the Year.
Sikandar Raza
The middle order batsman and off spin bowler proved to be a vital part of the Zimbabwe national team throughout the year that was with bat and ball, helping his side, for the first time, reach the Super 12 of the T20 World Cup held in Australia in October and win their first ever ODI series since 2017.
A memorable limited overs cricket year also saw him score 753 runs at Harare Sports Club, 540 in nine ODIs and 213 in six T20Is thus breaking the record for the most runs scored in a single venue in a calendar year. Before that, the most runs scored as single ground in a calendar year was 738 runs compiled by Pakistan’s Zaheer Abbas, in Lahore in 1982.
Some of his best performances of the year 2022 came in the T20 World Cup against Ireland, West Indies and Pakistan in the World Cup. In the Chevrons’ first match of the campaign, Raza took centre stage, top scoring with 82 off 44 balls and followed it up with stellar performances with the ball where he took 3-19 against the Windies and 3/25 against eventual finalists, Pakistan. The 82 runs scored against Ireland is the highest by a Zimbabwean batsman at a T20 World Cup after Brendan Taylor’s 60 not out against Australia at the 2007 edition in South Africa.
In 50 overs cricket, Raza scored 645 runs in 15 innings, at an average of 49.61 and strike rate of 87.16, making two fifties to complement the three centuries. All of his runs came against top sides that have been brilliant in the white-ball game in 2022. Of the three centuries, two were back-to-back against Bangladesh in Harare where Zimbabwe won their first white ball series since 2017.
With Raza being the highlight of the year for Zimbabwe Cricket, for the national team as a whole it has been a year full of ups and downs. We will also take a look at the entire team’s year that was.
The year got off to a not so good start for the Chevrons, losing an ODI series against Asian champions Sri Lanka 2-1 away from home. Two close matches opening up the series were followed by a dismal performance in the decider which saw Lalchand Rajput’s men succumbing to 70 all out while chasing 255 runs.
Sri Lanka stun Proteas in Kingsmead epic
It was the following home series played in Bulawayo in May that the Chevrons hit the lowest of the lows. Losing a T20 series at home against Namibia, handing the Namibians their first series win against a Full Member. The 3-2 defeat was somehow a nail in the coffin of already under fire then head coach Rajput.
Calls for Rajput to be axed grew louder and final straw that broke the camel’s back came in June when Afghanistan humiliated them, winning all the six white ball matches at Harare Sports Club. The ZC board, which had been tepid in their handling of Rajput situation finally acted by replacing him with Dave Houghton.
Houghton, coming in when the spirits were low, all hope lost had to make sure that Zimbabwe don’t miss out on a second consecutive World Cup. The qualifiers which were played in Bulawayo were his first task.
With many having lost hope, Zimbabwe sailed through with a clean record, winning all their matches in the City of Kings and Queens to book their ticket to Australia a couple of months later.
Having gotten off to a bad first-half of the year, the now confident Chevrons faced a tougher challenge in the name of the Tigers of Bangladesh which, with no disrespect to the teams faced in the T20 World Cup Qualifiers, was Houghton’s first real challenge.
A win in the first T20 match, a defeat in the second had people crying that the Chevrons will remain the same where they win one and lose the rest. However, it was not the case, Zimbabwe rose to the top to secure a famous victory and take the series 2-1.
The 20 over series was followed by the one-day matches, where one man rose to the top and made sure that his team and coach make history. Scoring back-to-back hundreds in the first two matches, Raza was pivotal in Zimbabwe’s first ever white ball series win since 2017 when Heath Streak was at the helm.
Both centuries came while chasing and stand in captain during the series, Regis Chakabva also scored his ton as Houghton and his men were on top of the world. The Chevrons scoped the series 2-1 after Raza’s splendid performances and losing the last match of the series.
Facing the mighty India at Harare Sports Club, Zimbabwe lost the first two matches by 10 and five wickets respectively in what one would describe as one-sided affairs. It was in the last match of the series that the Chevrons really dug up their sleeves to give the Indians a run for their money.
In a gallant fight, centred by Raza and Bradley Evans who scored 115 runs and took 5/54 respectively, Zimbabwe fell 13 runs short of completing a famous victory. Having been on the rise since the coming in Houghton, another tougher challenge faced the Chevrons in Australia.
After losing the first two matches, just like against India, Zimbabwe put out a fight in the final match and this time managed to cross the line to register their first-ever win against Australia Down Under. A three wicket win in the last match, courtesy of one of the best-ever white ball spells in history by Ryan Burl, taking 5-10 in three overs.
The series Down Under was followed by the global showpiece, where main man Raza was central to the team’s performance. A 44 ball 82 runs took Zimbabwe over the line against Ireland in the first, winning by 31 runs.
A defeat against the Windies left the Chevrons facing a possible early exit from the T20 World Cup but another good performance from Raza against Scotland took Zimbabwe through to their first ever Super 12 appearance.
Winning just one match in the Super 12, it was one for the ages, one of the tournament’s best matches. A one-run victory over eventual finalists Pakistan which was Zimbabwe’s last win of the year.
As the year begins, Zimbabwe will have a chance to make a return to the 50 over World Cup when they host the 2023 World Cup Qualifiers and will be looking at burying the sad memories that came with the previous edition in 2018. Zimbabwe first assignment of the year will be against Ireland, in a limited overs series slated to start on 12 January with three T20s followed by the same number of one dayers. All matches will be played at Harare Sports Club.
After the Ireland tour, Zimbabwe will face West Indies in two Tests from 4 February, with both matches at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. – Follow on Twitter @brandon_malvin.
