Chronicle Editor
Brandon Moyo, Sports Reporter
THERE is no rest for Zimbabwe’s star all-rounder Sikandar Raza as he has left the country for Asia once again, this time to take part in the biggest franchise cricket competition, the Indian Premier League (IPL), which officially gets underway on Friday.
Raza will turn out for the Punjab Kings for the 16th edition of the richest T20 competition in the world.
The Chevrons all-rounder was sold for INR 50 lakhs (US$61 000) in the draft last year and joined an elite group of Zimbabwean cricketers to have been bought by an IPL team, the others being Ray Price, Brendan Taylor, Tatenda Taibu. Price and Taibu remain the only Zimbabweans to play in the IPL after Taylor was signed by the Sunrise Hyderabad in 2014 but when he chose to delay his travel to India because of his wedding, he was placed on standby and never got to feature in the tournament.
Raza will be looking at helping his new team reach the play-offs for the first time since 2014. His team finished sixth in 2022 with seven and same number of losses from the 14 matches they played.
His departure to the biggest franchise league in the world comes after he helped Zimbabwe win a One Day International (ODI) series against Netherlands in Harare last week. Zimbabwe bagged the three-match contest 2-1 with Raza scoring the final runs, with an unbeaten 18 in the decider. The all-rounder also finished with five wickets in the three matches.
“It’s IPL time. See you soon Punjab Kings family, inshallah,” Raza posted on his Twitter page with the Punjab Kings saying they can’t wait to see him.
Raza’s Punjab Kings will kick off their campaign against Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday afternoon.
The Zimbabwean was picked for the IPL after a brilliant 2022 which saw him break records in the international arena. He was named in the T20 World Cup Team of the Tournament and was also nominated in the Player of the Tournament category. At Punjab Kings, Raza will be joined by Sam Curran, the son of former Zimbabwe international Kevin Curran.
The 36-year-old Chevrons star will be no stranger to international franchise leagues having been part of the Lahore Qalandars side that successfully defended the Pakistan Super League (PSL) title to become only the second Zimbabwean to win it after fast bowler Blessing Muzarabani won it with the Andy Flower coached Multan Sultans in 2021.
On top of that, Raza played for the Dubai Capitals in the International League T20 and the Rangpur Riders in the Bangladesh Premier League. At the end of last year, Raza turned out for the Biratnagar Super Kings in the Nepal T20 League.
Punjab Kings, who have begun preparations for the tournament will be without the services of Johnny Bairstow who has been ruled out due to a leg injury that he suffered in September last year while playing golf.
The Shikhar Dhawan captained side will also be without South Africa’s Kagiso Rabada in the opening match who is set to join the team after the completion of the Proteas’ ODI series against Netherlands.
The IPL experience will come in handy for Raza and the Chevrons as they look to qualify for the 50 over World Cup that will be hosted in India later in the year. Zimbabwe will have to go through the Qualifiers which they will host in June thus, the exposure to different international players will be a big boost for him and the team as a whole. – @brandon_malvin
Online Reporter