Chronicle Editor
Brandon Moyo,
ZIMBABWE Cricket star all rounder and captain of the national team’s T20 side, Sikandar Raza has also expressed shock over a wrong picture of him that was used by online cricket publication, CricTracker during their yearly awards.
The Chevrons stalwart was named the T20I Cricketer of the Year after a stellar year with both bat and ball in the game’s shortest version.
However, the publication used an image that is not of the Zimbabwean star and he, like many other followers of the publication, was shocked at the person purported to be him. He however, thanked them for acknowledging him.
“Alhamdulillah Never knew if I look smart in the suit but then again is this me? Regardless, thanks to CricTracker and everyone who voted,” he posted on X ( formerly Twitter).
Prior to being named their best T20I player in 2023, Raza was also named in their T20I Team of Year. The team is dominated by India, which has six representations (Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, Rinku Singh, Mohammed Shami and Ashdeep Singh) while Afghanistan (Rashid Khan), Pakistan (Shaheen Afridi), South Africa (Heinrich Klaasen), West Indies (Nicholas Pooran) and Zimbabwe (Raza) have one player each.
Some of the players who were honoured by the publication include Pat Cummins (Captain of the Year), Virat Kohli (ODI Cricket of the Year), Usman Khawaja (Test Cricket of the Year), Travis Head (Cricketer of the Year) and Nat Sciver-Brunt (Women’s Cricketer of the Year).
The year 2023 ended on a high note for Raza who was also named in the ESPN Cricinfo T20I team of the year as well. Raza, who was named Zimbabwe’s new T20 captain in November, is the only Chevrons player who made the two renowned cricket publications’ team of the year.
It was a worthy inclusion for Raza who played 11 T20 matches for Zimbabwe in 2023 and managed to score 515 runs at an impressive average of 51,5.
In his 11 innings, Raza has six half centuries and a high score of 82 runs.
He also proved his worth with ball in hand where he had 12 innings under his name. In those innings, the Chevrons skipper claimed 17 scalps at an average of 14, 9 and an economy rate of 6, 57.
His incredible form in white ball cricket also saw him overtake Indian great, Virat Kohli in the most Player of the Match accolades.
Last year, Raza was also named in the ESPN Cricinfo’s One Day International (ODI) team of the year after yet another impressive display on the field of play and has since shown no signs of slowing down. He will be leading the Chevrons in their first assignment of the year against Sri Lanka away from home. – @brandon_malvin
Online Reporter