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CHEVRONS captain Sikandar Raza boldly stuck with his men on Sunday despite the 100-run pounding they suffered at the hands of World Champions India in the second T20I at Harare Sports Club.
The two teams meet in the third match of the five-match series at the same venue today.
The match starts at 1pm. On Saturday, Raza and his men had their names written in gold around the world after their stunning win over India.
But, the World Champions roared back and were full value for their crushing win in the second match. Raza stuck with his men, despite that huge defeat.
“We are a nation that is very quick to sort of ask for changes suddenly when there’s a bad game,” he said.
“Let’s not forget, 24 hours ago, these boys were the same ones who won us a game against India.
“I’m not a big believer of ringing too many changes just because these boys have had a bad game. So I want to show that faith.
“Selectors want to show that faith, the board wants to show that faith as well. So I think we’re all on the same page in that.
“This is not a series where we want to just hand out debut caps. We have been down this route before where debut caps were given out like candies. So you should have to earn your debut.”
Now, will the players, who got the full backing of their skipper, justify his confidence in them by beating India at Harare Sports Club today. Today’s match starts at 1pm.
Raza is right that the Chevrons are not playing an average band of cricketers but some of the best players in the world.
For instance, Ruturaj Gaikwad, who led the Chennai Super Kings in this year’s IPL, slipping into the massive shoes of MS Dhoni, is trying to stake his claim to nail down the No.3 spot that’s been left vacant by the retirement of superstar Virat Kohli.
“It’s a really big topic, it’s not the right point to think about it,” he said on replacing Kohli
“To compare to him or to fill in his shoes is really tough. As I had said in the IPL as well, its difficult to fill Mahi bhai’s shoes as well.
“You want to start your own career, you want to play your own game. That’s the priority right now, focus on one game, focus on making your team win – for whichever side you play – and make sure you’re on the winning side more often than not.”
He said the batting conditions in Zimbabwe were tricky.
“It’s definitely challenging, it’s slightly unique. If you have seam movement coming at you in one pace, you can still negotiate it.
“But here it’s slightly double-paced and the bounce is also slightly variable. That’s causing a bit of difference. When the ball is new, it’s slightly tougher to score.”
(Sports Reporter.Cricbuzz)
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter