adminPERTH. – Zimbabwe hero Sikandar Raza has credited Ricky Ponting for giving him the “little push” he needed to put in another match-winning performance at the T20 World Cup.
After Zimbabwe stunned Pakistan by one run for their third win of the tournament, Raza revealed that when he struggled to sleep in the early hours of the day of the match against Pakistan, it was Ponting’s clip, which referred to greats of the game like Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne when discussing Raza’s form, that calmed him.
“I know there was a small clip that was sent to me this morning and it was Ricky Ponting having a small word,” Raza told the broadcasters immediately after Zimbabwe’s win.
“I was excited. I was nervous. I was thrilled about today. Motivation was always there, but if I needed that little push, I thought that clip did a wonder this morning. So thank you very much to Ricky as well.”
In a glowing assessment of Raza’s year, in which he has won more Player-of-the-Match awards than anyone else in 2022 – seven – Ponting praised the way Raza has embraced a senior role in the side and how he has been willing to face challenges head on.
Raza has starred with both bat and ball for Zimbabwe in this T20 World Cup.
Earlier in the tournament, Raza explained that he had to figure out a new way of bowling after surgery to remove a benign tumour from his shoulder left him unable to lift his arm.
But, on his return to the game, he still wanted to contribute in both disciplines.
It’s that desire to keep learning that Ponting is particularly impressed by.
“At the age of 33 or 34, it’s not easy to get better and improve. But he’s found a way to improve whether it be 50-overs cricket or T20 cricket, probably under the most pressure that he’s ever been under in his life as far as the player is concerned,” Ponting said.
He has already earned three watches off his captain Craig Ervine, and could add three more to his name before the World Cup ends.
“When we were coming to Australia, I said to my captain, ‘if you become man of the match, pick any watch from the catalogue and I’ll buy it for you, but if I become man of the match, you’re going to buy me one’.” – Cricinfo
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter