Sikandar Raza, Zimbabwe’s Pakistan-born cricketer, has been on a fairytale run since 2022.
Pakistani-born, Zimbabwean cricketer Sikandar Raza, has been experiencing a remarkable journey since 2022.
His narrative deviates from the typical trajectory of an international cricketer. Unlike many, he didn’t rise to prominence as a teenage prodigy, nor did he harbor a strong desire to represent his nation. Instead, He journeyed through from his adolescence to adulthood and stumbled upon the sport he sometimes played as a child, only to discover he is quite good at it.
Born in Sialkot in the northeast of Pakistan, Sikandar’s ambition was to be a fighter pilot. He was 1 of 60 to have won a place out of 60,000 applicants and got admission to Air Force College. But in his third year, he failed an eye test. His dream to be a pilot was shattered.
Not dissuaded, Sikandar got admitted to Glasgow Caledonian University, where he picked up cricket as a semi-professional. He moved to Zimbabwe, where his parents had resided since 2002, and he made his first-class debut in 2007. He made one half-century in nine innings before completing his studies and returning to full-time cricket in the 2010-11 season. He had a more fruitful time, scoring 625 runs at an average of 41.
The following season was again decent as he developed a reputation as an aggressive top-order batsman. Sikandar kept doing well in the one-day and 20/20 competitions at the time, so he was selected for a practice match against the visiting Bangladeshis in 2011 incidentally Vusimuzi Sibanda was injured and In the first ODI against Bangladesh he became the 116 player to appear in Zimbabwe team
Four months later, he made his Test debut too, against Pakistan in Harare. By the time the 2015 World Cup rolled around, Sikandar was firmly settled into his role as the most adventurous batsman in Zimbabwe’s top order, with a fondness for carving the ball through – and sometimes over – point, and a useful side line as an off spinner.
He played a pivotal role in one of Zimbabwe’s most memorable moments on a cricket field, winning the deciding ODI against Sri Lanka with a crucial role in a pressure situation chasing 204 on a turning track in Hambantota in July 2017.
Before batting, he had helped restrict Sri Lanka in that game with what was his best figures in ODI cricket: 3 for 21 in 10 overs.
The result? Zimbabwe had won a five-match ODI series away from home for the first time.
The 37-year-old has been nominated twice in succession for the ICC Twenty20 International Player of the Year award in addition to becoming the first player to score five consecutive T20 international (T20I) half-centuries.
Since January 2022, Raza has scored almost 2,500 runs, including four centuries in one-day internationals (ODIs) and T20Is at an average of more than 40. He has also taken 71 wickets in the same period.
Raza has almost single-handedly rekindled Zimbabwe’s interest in cricket and is easily the most admired sportsperson in his adopted homeland, a country where football rules the roost.
It is not just his numbers that sing his praise. The adoration of crowds at Zimbabwe’s sold-out international cricket matches in the last two years is what completes the story.
“Monya”, a popular chant originally composed for a revered former captain of Zimbabwe’s biggest football club, has now been turned into an anthem for Raza when he is on song. The nickname for Dynamos FC’s former captain Murape Murape is replaced by “Raza” when the special rendition reverberates around cricket stadiums in Harare or Bulawayo.
The rest of the lyrics of this simple tune remain the same, melodically declaring that their hero is not only wonderful – just like a delightful local brand of coffee creamer – but also so good it is like his whole body is coated in this tasty powdered milk that they just love so much.
The once shy part-time Pakistani cricketer is now proud to call himself a Zimbabwean. It is a place he has called home for the past two decades and he now leads the country in T20Is and is also a part of Lahore Qalandars in PSL 2024.