Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC)'s director of cricket Hamilton Masakadza has wished on-song all-rounder Sikandar Raza a flood of wickets and runs for the Chevrons in future following his recent success on the field that has seen him getting recognition for an outstanding achievement throughout last year.
The star all-rounder last week received $10 000 and a plaque from ZC managing director, Givemore Makoni shortly before departure for Sri Lanka in appreciation of the amount of work he has put into his game and standing head and shoulders above the rest in a Chevrons shirt.
Masakadza, a former captain and teammate of Raza in his playing days, said he was not surprised to see the all-rounder scaling such great heights because of his work ethic.
“I think he’s been absolutely outstanding, very good, the last couple of years, and I think for us it’s very important that he leads from the front like he’s been doing as a senior player.
"I mean, all the guys watch and see that it is possible for someone in a Zimbabwean shirt, for someone in their changing room and that also then helps the other guys aspire to do it as well, aspire to doing as well as he has done,” Masakadza said.
“So, my hope is that the guys really learn from that and pick up from it. "It’s not surprising to us, he has put in the work over the last couple of years and it’s just starting to pay dividends because he has worked really hard on his game. He has really been ticking all the right boxes, so it was just a matter of time before the performances started to follow.”
Raza was recently shortlisted for the ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year Award alongside New Zealand’s Mark Chapman, Alpesh Ramjani of Uganda and India’s Suryakumar Yadav. Among his highlights in 2023 included being nominated for the Cric Tracker T20I Cricketer of the Year, most player of the year awards (nine), most half centuries in succession in T20Is (four), most player of the match awards in succession (four), most 50s by a Zimbabwean in T20Is (six) and most runs by a Zimbabwean in T20Is (515).
“I think what stands out for me is, batters knowing their game and knowing what tempo to play at. I think because of the amount of experience he has now, the amount of time he has playing at this level and also playing in leagues around the world has really helped him learn his game and learn what he needs to do to be successful," Masakadza said.
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“It also helps to have someone in the current change room doing all this and sort of making that example that they pick at. There’s also a lot of knowledge in that change room that those youngsters can learn in their game.”
The Chevrons’ T20I captain and offspinner also became the first bowler to get a T20I hat-trick for Zimbabwe and fourth Zimbabwean player to reach 50 T20I wickets.
“I think the bowling has really gone well for Raza. He has worked really hard on his remodeled action. I was never really the biggest fan of it. He’s someone who really works hard on his game. He has mastered it now and he’s managing to get more success with it now. Again, it’s another example, he started off as a different kind of bowler when he first came on in international cricket,” Masakadza said.
ZC managing director, Givemore Makoni said the award will serve to inspire the team to put up solid performances each time they cross the rope onto the field.
“I think we have been doing it in the past when we had the annual awards and we thought with his achievements and what he has done throughout the season, he deserved recognition from the association,” Makoni said.
“He has scored runs, he has taken wickets, he has led from the front and I think it’s only befitting that we accord him such an honour.”
Raza said long may be the tradition to recognise players continue even after he has long left the crease.
“I didn’t know this was happening. I’m a little speechless and humbled…thank you very much to ZC and everyone involved. It really means a lot and I think this has to be the way going forward as well,” said Raza.
“Long may it continue even after I’m long gone. I think this is a very good start to a tradition and I think we needed it in our organization so I’m just speechless to be honest, I wasn’t expecting this.”
