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Blessing Malinganiza
STAND-IN national cricket captain Sikandar Raza believes that the absence of some senior players in the just-ended series against Ireland allowed upcoming players to raise their hands and be picked for future national team assignments.
The Chevrons included two previously uncapped players Brian Bennet and Trevor Gwandu for the T20 series and then had a “new-look” squad for the ODI series.
Ireland won the T20I series 2-1 with Raza being banned for the last two T20 matches for violating ICC code of conduct while Craig Ervine, Sean Williams, and Brad Evans were ruled out of the tour due to injuries while Ryan Burl joined the injury list during the ODI series.
Raza believes the absence of the senior players was an opportunity for other players to raise their hands and be considered for future Chevrons assignments.
“I have said to the new guys coming in, that opportunities come in funny ways.
“When one door closes for someone else, the other one opens, it’s similar to you guys as well.
“Had Craig or myself or maybe Williams or Brad or some of the other guys not got injured or suspended, then opportunity might have been difficult to get, so treat this as an opportunity and try and grab the opportunity and you never know what happens after,” said Raza.
Raza believes that domestic cricket offers the best preparation ground for international cricket for the local players.
“I always encourage anybody who gets picked for the national team to have a full domestic season or sometimes even a couple of seasons because domestic helps any cricketer a lot.
“If you have the right mindset, if you have the hunger and desire to be successful in international cricket, our domestic cricket is still very good for those who want to learn and those who want to get better,” said the Zimbabwe T20 skipper.
With concerns being raised on the state of cricket in Zimbabwe over the past few months, Raza believes Zimbabwe Cricket has not been growing but instead, it is at a standstill.
“Some people would think that our cricket is on a decline whereas I think our cricket is actually at a standstill when other countries are improving,” said Raza. He added that they have to maintain the respect that they have earned over the years as a full member state.
“We have earned the respect of world cricket.
“I think it’s very important that we understand that and we cannot go backwards and you can only earn the respect of world cricket by playing good cricket and producing those results and that’s as simple as that,” he said.
Online Reporter