Online Reporter
Brandon Moyo, Zimpapers Sports Hub
SIKANDAR Raza has just climbed to the very top of world cricket.
At 39, the Zimbabwe captain was crowned the No. 1 ODI all-rounder by the ICC, and almost in the same breath declared that his team’s march towards the T20 World Cup had already begun.
Raza’s rise came after a stunning series against Sri Lanka in Harare. Zimbabwe lost both ODIs, but Raza stood tall with 92 in the opener, an unbeaten 59 in the second, and a wicket to his name. Those performances lifted him to a career-high 302 ranking points, ahead of Afghanistan’s Azmatullah Omarzai (296) and Mohammad Nabi (292). The ICC confirmed it in a statement: “Sikandar Raza becomes No. 1 ODI all-rounder for the first time in his career.”
The milestone was hailed across the cricket world. The Times of India captured the mood in a single line: “Age just a number.” For Zimbabwe, it was more than a personal accolade, it was a symbol of resilience in a team still fighting for results.
And there is no pause for celebration. Yesterday at Harare Sports Club, Raza led Zimbabwe into a three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka, treating it as the first step towards the Africa regional qualifiers.
The qualifiers, set for September 19 to October 4 on home soil, will decide two places at next year’s World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.
“The World Cup Qualifier has started from today. Everything we do, a winning changing room builds a lot more, solves a lot more problems quickly and in T20 you need all those qualities in a changing room. So, for Zimbabwe the T20 World Cup Qualifiers have started and we have to put our best foot forward in every game because as we know the Qualifiers are quite cutthroat. So, we will treat these three games as part of Qualifiers. We know one win, one loss could change things dramatically so that is the message I have given in the changing room,” said Raza.
The skipper hinted that the squad facing Sri Lanka is largely the one he intends to carry into the qualifiers. Only injuries and fitness setbacks could force changes, though he insists opportunities remain for in-form players outside the current set-up.
“You could pretty much sense that this is the squad, minus the injuries and fitness issues that we are looking at. That’s not to say that other guys who are playing and doing well cannot come in, the door is not closed for anyone but this is a 16…maybe two more guys that we have in our minds that are part of our World Cup Qualifiers plan.
“This is it, but we will take it one series at a time, we will try different combinations as well, we will see changes as well because we want to make sure we get all our combinations right.
“That’s not to say that will compromise the quality or the winning of the game because, Qualifiers, anyone can be called or anything can happen so the 15/16 guys must be equally good and anyone who takes to the park is good enough in my opinion to win the game,” he said.
Alongside Zimbabwe, Botswana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda will be chasing the same dream.
But for Raza, the mission is clear: carry his own world beating form into the cutthroat qualifiers and lead the Chevrons to another World Cup. — @brandon_malvin
