Shingi Matibiri, Sports Reporter
HARARE – Zimbabwe all rounder Sikandar Raza‘s stature continues to rise in world cricket after he was shortlisted for the ICC Men’s Player of the Month for October.
Raza who made history by becoming the first Zimbabwean to win the award in August, has been shortlisted along with Indian Virat Kohli and South African David Miller for the October accolade.
Raza is one of the stand out performers at the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup in Australia where he helped Zimbabwe make it to the Super 12 from Round 1.
He started the month off with a sensational show in Zimbabwe’s T20 World Cup opener against Ireland. Raza smashed 82 from just 47 balls and went on to claim bowling figures of 1/22 later in the match.
He went on to deliver another superb all-round show against Scotland as he smashed 40 from 23 deliveries and then went on to register figures of 1/20 with the ball.
All round brilliance from Sikandar Raza helped Zimbabwe beat Scotland to book a berth in the Super 12 stage of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.
The 36-year-old couldn’t do much with the bat against stronger teams like West Indies and Pakistan but he played a massive role with the ball, registering figures of 3/19 and 3/25 against West Indies and Pakistan respectively. His spell against Pakistan helped Zimbabwe in securing a memorable win at such a big stage.
Scoring 145 runs and taking nine wickets at a formidable average of 14.66 from his six T20Is, Raza won three Player of the Match awards, including for his contribution in the wins against Ireland (82 not out) and the shock result against Pakistan (3 for 25).
