Online Reporter
Tinashe Kusema-Zimpapers Sports Hub
SIKANDAR RAZA cut the figure of a proud dad as he led the Zimbabwe Chevrons during their victory lap around the Harare Sports Club grounds to thank the fans last Saturday.
The Chevrons had just completed a seven-wicket victory over Namibia to clinch the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifiers following a largely entertaining final between the two sides last Saturday.
Raza, by his standards, did not have the best of tournaments with either bat or ball.
While Brian Bennett was deservedly awarded the Batter and Player-of-the-Tournament and Namibia’s Nicol Loftie-Eaton was named Bowler of the tournament, Raza received an appreciation accolade for being named the number one all-rounder in One Day International cricket last month.
Form aside, sport is about moments, and Raza had his own, soon after Zimbabwe clinched their ticket to Sri Lanka and India for the next ICC T20 World Cup.
The Chevrons had just beaten Kenya resoundingly by seven wickets to seal their qualification. And Raza, usually the kind of person who chooses his words carefully, was open and candid as he addressed exorcising his demons of the Namibia tournament back in 2023, the emergence of a new crop of Chevrons and qualifying for the T20 World Cup.
“Sitting here and in the changing room, I can safely say that I am a very proud captain that we have qualified for the World Cup,” Raza said.
“And it is also relieving because I know it wasn’t much to do with the skills, it was just how we dealt with those demons of the past.
“We put them to bed, and now we are on our way to Sri Lanka and India, and I can’t be any prouder.
“Also, I think this country and the cricket fans, I think they deserve a bit of happiness as well,” he said.
The demons Raza was referring to were from the Qualifier in Namibia in 2023 where Zimbabwe suffered a seven-run loss to Uganda and were eliminated from securing a place at the 2024 T20 World Cup.
Namibia and Uganda would then line up amongst the world’s best at the tournament co-hosted by West Indies and the United States.
For many, this signalled the time for a change as “senior statesmen in the team like Raza, Craig Ervine and Sean Williams” were viewed as spent forces and a change in the guard was needed.
Fortunately, Zimbabwe Cricket stuck to their guns as Raza and Williams, in particular, were persuaded to stay when they listened to the noise and contemplated stepping away from the game.
Williams retired from T20 cricket while Raza was rumoured to be on the cusp of retiring from Test cricket.
That was then.
Now, Raza addressed the media with a sense of relief and redemption.
Through the stewardship of players like Ervine and Williams and Raza, the country has seen the emergence of a new crop of players such as Ben Curran, Tony Manyonga, Tashinga Musekiwa, Tinotenda Maposa, Wessy Madhevere and Bennett.
“It’s a very happy and proud changing room at the moment,” he said.
“When the tournament started, we didn’t just set out to qualify for the World Cup, we wanted to win the trophy and build a winning changing room.
“I think for the growth of a young cricketer, it is very important that the changing room is a winning changing room and for that to happen we had to change the culture.
“Without bringing the past, I felt some previous coaches basically destroyed that culture.
“The seniors weren’t respected or we were looked at like it’s time for us to go.
“It was like they are not doing this or they are not doing that but I have always been a big believer that you cannot build a future by destroying your present.
“And I felt like we were looking to build a future by destroying the present but we did not have any foundation for the future to build on,” he said. Now, Raza feels redeemed for sticking with his guns and looks into the future with a lot more optimism.
“The selectors, myself and the selection panel have taken a lot of slack, a lot of criticism for backing some of these guys.
“But we took that head-on, and we stuck with these youngsters because we knew what we had in our hands and we knew how important they will be in a winning culture.
“Now, to see the growth of players like Tino Maposa, to see Marumani coming back and witness Brian Bennett being so consistent for us is just great.
“Also, to see so many different individuals raising hands and winning the game from different positions or even contributing has been fantastic.
“Ryan Burl did not have a hit in this tournament but he always went out there to take the game forward.
“These are the signs of a culture that we have built that has taken us a long time.
“A selfless culture where the team must always come first,” he said.
Raza was not the only player affected as the entire Zimbabwe Chevrons unit often came under a lot of criticism as results were not forthcoming. The Chevrons are currently going through one of their busiest calendar year and it comes with some rather disappointing and sometimes embarrassing results as witnessed by the humbling trip to England and innings defeats to South Africa and New Zealand in the Test arena.
