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Brandon Moyo, Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE international, Sikandar Raza has settled well in India where he is taking part in his debut Indian Premier League (IPL) season with the Punjab Kings.
Raza became only the third Zimbabwean to play in the world’s biggest franchise league after Raymond Price and Tatenda Taibu.
In a video posted by his team prior to their third match of the campaign, he said they play as a unit.
“I feel like we have a very good squad, reason being we play for one another, we play for the badge, we are happy for one another’s success, these are small things that go a long way in winning the tournament or doing well in a tournament,” said Raza.
The 36-year-old Chevrons stalwart has played all the three matches so far, with the Kings winning two and losing one.
Raza said that he hopes he will do well in the IPL and repay the faith that the franchise put in him.
Taking part in the franchise league for the first time, the off-spinning all-rounder added that he has already made a couple of friends within the team. He also explained how he found out that he had been picked for the 2023 edition as he was taking part in another league.
“I was switching from the conference room to the team room and that’s when I was picked and I didn’t even know that I got picked until I got to the team room and everybody was hugging me and my phone started to ring.
“Initially I cancelled a few calls but my phone kept on ringing and I took one important call which was from a friend of mine who is an analyst for one of the IPL franchises and he said congratulations, Punjab has picked you,” said Raza.
In his first match for the Shikhar Dhawan captained Punjab Kings side, Raza was named the most valuable asset of the match after scoring 16 runs off 13 balls and taking one wicket for 25 runs in three overs.
To cap off his debut, he also took three catches as they won by seven runs (D/L Method) against the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Kings scored 191/5 in 20 overs and went on to restrict their opponents to 146/7 in 16 overs after the target was revised due to rain.
In the second match, the Kings made it two out of two with a five runs triumph over Rajasthan Royals last week Wednesday.
It was however not a good day for the Chevrons star who fell for one run after a brilliant delivery by Ravichandran Ashwin and also did not take any wickets. Kings scored 197/4 in 20 overs and went on to keep things tight, as their opponents finished on 192/7 in their 20 overs.
On Sunday, the Kings suffered a heavy eight wicket defeat at the hands of the Sunrisers Hyderabad where Raza scored five runs and did not bowl.
They were limited to 143/9 in 20 overs after Dhawan saved the day with an unbeaten 99 runs while the Sunrisers went on to finish on 145/2 in 17.1 overs.
Raza was introduced as the Impact Player, coming in for Prabhsimran Singh into the playing eleven, which meant that the Kings were not able to use South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada.
Up next for Raza and the Kings is a clash against Gujarat Titans in Mohali tomorrow. -@brandon_malvin
Online Reporter