Player: Sikandar Raza

Sikandar Raza

Sikandar Raza Profile Pic
NameSikandar Raza
BornApril 24, 1986
Sialkot, Punjab, Pakistan
Age36 years 332 days
TeamsZimbabwe, Zimbabwe A, Chittagong Vikings, Montreal Tigers, Paktia Panthers, Tshwane Spartans, Karachi Kings, Amsterdam Knights, Northern Warriors, Heat Stormers, Trinbago Knight Riders, Zimbabwe Select XI, Khulna Tigers, Zimbabwe XI, The Chennai Braves, Dambulla Aura, Dubai Capitals, Rangpur Riders, Lahore Qalandars, Punjab Kings
NicknameRaza
Bat StyleRight Handed Bat
Bowl StyleRight-arm offbreak
Batting Statistics
TestODIT20IIPL
Mat1712766-
Inn3312163-
Runs118737461259-
Avg35.9736.3720.98-
SR55.1684.43128.86-
HS12714187-
NO0183-
100s160-
50s8206-
4s11830999-
6s178747-
Bowling Statistics
TestODIT20IIPL
Mat1712766-
Inn259855-
Balls26573962846-
Runs144132491013-
Wkt347138-
BBI113 / 721 / 38 / 4-
BBM176 / 821 / 38 / 4-
Eco3.254.927.18-
Avg42.3845.7626.66-
5W200-
10W000-
Profile
Born in Sialkot, Pakistan, Sikandar Raza's dream of being a fighter pilot ended prematurely when he failed in his eye examination. Nursing the dream from a tender age of 11, it was not easy for Raza to see his dream being shattered in such a way.

Determined to succeed in his life, Raza got admitted to the Glasgow Caledonian University and moved to Zimbabwe, where his parents had resided since 2002. He began playing cricket as a semi-professional and made his First-Class debut in 2007 for the Northerns. After Zimbabwe's cricket structure was revamped in 2009, he went on to play First-Class cricket for the Mashonaland Eagles.

After completing his studies, he returned to full-time cricket in the 2010-11 season. He had a decent season, scoring 625 runs at an average of 41. He made his Twenty20 debut for the Southern Rocks in 2010 against the Desert Vipers. He turned out to be a T20 specialist, and he was the leading run-scorer in the 2010 Stanbic Bank 20 Competition.

It did not take long for the selectors to recognise his talent and was selected to play in a practice match against Bangladesh when Vusi Sibanda was injured. He did well and Zimbabwe cricket expedited the process of granting him citizenship status. He was named in the preliminary squad for Zimbabwe's 2011 Cricket World Cup campaign, but did not make it to the final squad. He was granted citizenship status in late 2011.

After putting up consistent performances for the next two years, Raza was awarded with the ODI cap in May 2013, thus fulfilling his dream of playing in Zimbabwe colours. His first game was against Bangladesh, but he was not able to do well in that match. His finest performance in the format came when he hit his first fifty and that too against India in his fourth game. His well-measured 82 against a strong Indian bowling attack helped Zimbabwe post a decent total. He also made his debut in T20Is in the series against Bangladesh.

Raza, made his Test debut in September 2013 against his home country - Pakistan in the first of a two-match series after Brendan Taylor decided to sit out. He performed well, hitting a fifty in the first innings but was omitted for the second game after Taylor came back into the squad.

Raza has made most of the opportunities he has got. The tour of Bangladesh in 2014 was a very good one for him. In the three matches, Raza scored three fifties and cemented his place in the side as an opener. He has also not done badly in ODIs, even though he has scored only one hundred and one fifty so far, he has given plenty of starts. Raza was a key member of the squad that had been selected for the 2015 World Cup.

Since then, he was in and out of the side. Raza's major break came in 2017; He was one of the linchpins in Zimbabwe's first ever bilateral ODI series victory over Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka where he contributed with both bat and ball. A few days later, the all-rounder followed that up by cracking his maiden Test century in the one-off Test against the same opponent. However, Zimbabwe went onto to lose the Test, Raza's 127 made the selectors sit back and notice his performance.

A dynamic all-rounder, Raza was netted by the Chittagong Kings in the 2017 Bangladesh Premier League draft.

By Sriram AS