Online Reporter
Tinashe Kusema
Zimpapers Sports Hub
India are in Harare for a short but spicy three-match T20 series, and all eyes will be on Harare Sports Club this afternoon as Zimbabwe face the reigning T20 World Cup champions.
The series starts at 1pm today, with games two and three set for Saturday and Sunday at the same venue.
The headline act for Zimbabwe is captain Sikandar Raza.
He became Zimbabwe’s most capped international cricketer last weekend with 314 matches across all formats during the series loss to Bangladesh.
Raza however, didn’t get to enjoy it much after the 2-1 series defeat by Bangladesh.
“To be honest with you, I haven’t had the time to look back,” said Raza on the milestone.
“The only time I had was to be grateful, firstly, to God, then to Zimbabwe for the opportunity, my family for the support, and the fans for accepting me for who I am, especially for a guy who wasn’t born here.
“All I can tell you now is that when I received my debut cap, March 2013, I never thought in my wildest dream that I would be here.
“It never occurred to me,” he said.
Raza said that when the day came, it felt rather surreal, and he is happy that India are now in the country and have afforded him a second chance to soak it all in.
“In a way, it’s good that India is here, and that we have these back-to-back series, because I felt like I needed some time to basically reflect on the journey,” he said.
“I am happy I didn’t have that time because it would have been a very emotional time for me.
“I don’t take any cap that I have received for Zimbabwe lightly.
“Every cap that I have worn and every game I played for Zimbabwe is a great reminder of the fact that this country gave me a home, gave me a name, and gave me an identity.
“So, every time I have walked out, the people have loved me as one of their own.
“The new generation that’s coming in doesn’t even know that I wasn’t born here, so there is a lot of emotion attached to every time I represent Zimbabwe,” he said.
India have given Raza a second chance to enjoy his moment after Zimbabwe’s performance during Bangladesh series robbed him.
India wounded, but dangerous
However, India will not be a stroll in the park despite the reigning T20 champions being fresh off disappointing de-feats against Ireland and England.
Their vice-captain Tilak Varma believes the visitors are well placed to bounce back and stressed on the importance of adapting quickly to the conditions.
Reflecting on the lessons from India’s last two T20I series defeats, Tilak said the squad’s focus is firmly on executing its plans and rediscovering winning momentum.
The reigning T20 World Cup champions have been winless in their last seven games in the shortest format, losing both games to Ireland, before England cleans-wept them 4-0 in the five-match T20I series.
“Honestly, it has been a big learning experience since the last series,” said Tilak.
“And we are just looking forward.
“We want to follow our basics and do well in the coming series.
“In this series, we will execute well and seal our best cricket.
“We want to get that momentum back again.”As reinforcements, India have also called up three fresh faces to the T20I side in the form of pacers Yash Thakur and Ashok Sharma, as well as explosive opener Prabhsimran Singh.
However, all eyes will surely be fixed on 15-year-old batting prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
