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Brandon Moyo, [email protected]

JUST like when he is donning the national red colours for the Chevrons, where he has proven to be a match winner, Zimbabwe Cricket ace, Sikandar Raza has continued in the same vein in the ongoing 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL).

The 37-year-old Zimbabwean stalwart has come in handy for his franchise side, Punjab Kings and whenever he sits out, the team does not produce good results, his absence is felt.

Sitting in position eight in the 10-team tournament, Punjab Kings have played 11 matches, won five and lost six. With Raza in the starting 11, the Shikhar Dhawan-captained Punjab Kings side has won four matches and lost two and without him in the starting 11, they have lost four and won just one match.

From the four matches won, Raza has produced player-of-the-match performances in two of them.

On April 15, in Punjab Kings’ clash against Lucknow Super Giants, Raza made history and became the first Zimbabwean cricketer to be named Player of the Match in the IPL after helping his side record a two-wicket win.

His 57 runs off 42 deliveries was also the first half-century by a Zimbabwean batsman in the world’s most lucrative T20 league.

He came in to bat at number five, with a lot on his hands as the Kings were struggling on 45/3, and he managed to deliver a knock for the history books.

His innings consisted of four fours and three sixes before he was caught with his team needing 21 runs to win from 13 balls with the game looking poised for a late twist.

In the first innings of the match, he took one wicket in two overs for 19 runs as the Punjab Kings restricted Super Giants to 158/8 in 20 overs and his half-century was the highest score as they finished on 161/8 to win it with three balls remaining in the match.

However, after a brilliant knock and much to the surprise of many, Raza was dropped from the playing 11 in the following match, which Punjab Kings went on to lose by 24 runs.

Punjab Kings’ second defeat with Raza in the starting 11 came in a match against Super Giants, having won their previous game against Mumbai Indians by 13 runs. In their 56 runs defeat at the hands of Andy Flower’s Super Giants’ the Chevrons’ all-rounder was his team’s second-leading run scorer with 36 runs off 22 deliveries.

Making his second consecutive appearance in the starting 11 on 30 April against Chennai Super Kings, Raza once again helped his team cross the finish line and record their fifth victory of the season. He put up a “Commander of the Match” performance as he scored the winning runs in a last-ball thriller.

Raza took one wicket in three overs as Super Kings finished on 200/4 in their 20 overs after they had elected to bat first. The Chevrons stalwart went on to score the winning runs in their chase, finishing with an unbeaten 13 runs off seven balls as his side ended on 201/6 in 20 overs.

One could call Raza, Punjab King’s lucky charm.
For the second time this season, Raza was dropped from the team after a match-winning performance and like before, his absence has been felt as Punjab Kings have gone on to lose their matches. Despite his match-winning performances, they dropped him regardless.

Punjab Kings have lost their last two matches and Raza missed out on both despite his good performance. On May 3, they suffered a six wickets defeat at the hands of Mumbai Indians and their latest loss came on Monday against Kolkata Knight Riders where they lost a last-ball thriller by five wickets.

Meanwhile, in related news, Raza who has been in the form of his life over the past months, is in the top 10 of the latest International Cricket Council (ICC) MRF Tyres T20 and One Day International (ODI) all-rounder rankings.

In the shortest format of the game, Raza is ranked in position seven with a rating of 173 points while in ODIs he is in fourth place with a rating of 253 points.

With the top four race heating up in the IPL, Raza will be a crucial element in Punjab Kings’ play-off hopes, having proved his worth to the team thus deserving a fair chance.
– @brandon_malvin.