DESPITE his own inconsistent form, Zimbabwe’s star all-rounder Sikandar Raza remains steadfast in his support for his teammates, reiterating his commitment to giving each player a fair opportunity to prove themselves in the national team.
Even back in the days of Dave Houghton where he was bestowed the T20I captain, Raza expressed his disdain over giving the players a one, two or three-match run in the national team and sending them back to the corridors of domestic cricket.
On Tuesday, Zimbabwe sank to new lows in T20I cricket.
The Chevrons were dismissed for 57 runs all out by Pakistan at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.
This became Zimbabwe’s lowest T20I total.
But hurting as it were, Raza threw his support on his misfiring charges backing them to recover from this sad episode.
“I am a captain whereas we get the guys who are doing well in domestic cricket, in franchise cricket that is, when they come in, they must be given a proper chance. Not one game, not two games, they must be given a proper run so that we know if this guy is for the future or not,” he said.
“Otherwise, we give him two games. Before you know it, we are going to run out of players and everybody in the country has got two caps. So, where do you draw the line?
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“So, I want to create a culture where when somebody comes in, he is confident and he knows he is in a stable position where one bad game or two bad games are not going to determine his career.”
Added Raza: “He is going to have full backing from myself, from the coach, from the selectors. He is going to be given a longer run and if I do the same now, the next guy who comes in is going to be panicking because he knows that X guy got two games and he was gotten rid of.
“We want guys to feel that I have scored a lot of runs in domestic, I have earned and deserved my cap and I am going to be given a proper run just like everybody else and I think that is one formula that has to stay consistent for every player that makes it in the national team because it takes a long time to get here. If you have picked him, then you must back him and I want to back all the boys that are in the changing room right now.”
Raza admitted his own deficiencies and the team’s inability to handle Pakistan’s spin threat as the main reason for the current struggles.
He has taken ownership of the defeats and is desperate to bring smiles back on the faces of Zimbabwe cricket fans.
“I think what is a lot more important for me now is to make sure my boys are ready for the next game, put that behind us. I know we have lost, but next game, imagine if we win, everybody will forget about this performance,” Raza said.
“The first thing I will be saying to myself is that I have to take the onus and the ownership and the responsibility to be in the middle for as many overs as I can.
“I am going to have to find a method where I have to be aggressive when I need to be and I have to grind so that we can have partnerships. Myself and Marumani had a 60-odd run, 57-56 run partnership in the last game. I think if we can find one or two more partnerships in the next game, that would help.”
Zimbabwe will be seeking to bag the last T20I against Pakistan this afternoon before switching focus to the forthcoming full series against Afghanistan.
The limited overs games are scheduled for Harare, while a two-match Test series is set to be played in Bulawayo.
