Harare: One of the brightest and most exciting cricketers in the Zimbabwean cricket team, Sikandar Raza had a rollicking start to his tournament at the Zim Cyber City Zim Afro T10. As captain of the Bulawayo Braves, Raza led the charge for his side in the opening encounter against the Harare Hurricanes at the Harare Sports Club, on the first day of the tournament, scoring an unbeaten half-century and then going on to bag three wickets, leading his side to an emphatic win.

Raza, who has an integral part of Zimbabwean cricket, and one of the stars of the Zim Cyber City Zim Afro T10, is elated to see the tournament take place in Harare.

 “It is fantastic to have Zim Cyber City Zim Afro T10 over here and it was a great opening ceremony also. Well done to the organisers and Zimbabwe cricket. And like I have always said, it is our responsibility, the senior guys, it's our job to make sure we keep representing Zimbabwe cricket well, and keep playing a brand of cricket that keeps bringing more and more fans to the ground,” Raza said.

The T10 is the fastest and the most explosive format in the game of cricket, and Raza, who has taken to it like a fish does to water, explained decision making needs to be faster in this format.

“The thing is, you got to make quick decisions and you have to think quicker on your feet whether you're fielding, batting or bowling,” he said.

Talking further about the strength and the roster of players involved at the Zim Cyber City Zim Afro T10, Raza noted that there is an immense amount of quality on display in Harare. Further adding that this is the sort of tournament and platform that would eventually benefit the Zimbabwean national team.

“What I love about this tournament is that every single team is star-studded. There is a lot of experienced quality cricketers here. What I would say is this is a time where all local Zimbabwean players must speak to them, spend time with them. Get experience, get knowledge. Ask them to enhance our skills as well so that we can get better. And that way we'll take those skills into our national team and our graph will keep going up,” Raza quipped.  

“Maybe try to speak to the overseas guys. Those guys possess a lot of skill and quality, so we want to use them, try and learn from them, not just on the park. Off the park as well, I've encouraged people to buy each other a round of coffee and sit down and maybe have a cricketing conversation. I mean any cricketing conversation we can have would be very fruitful, because this is the first time we are rubbing shoulders with them.”  

The all-rounder, who was in fine form in the first match the Bulawayo Braves played in the tournament, also said that he was keener on ensuring the team did well instead of focussing solely on how he performed.

“It's not my own performance that I'm putting emphasis on, but I'm putting emphasis on the crowd enjoying the brand of cricket the Braves play. So that is what I'm really looking at, making sure that when the crowd is coming to the ground, they're excited, they're happy, there's cricket, good quality cricket that's been played. And it doesn't matter who plays. Whether it's me or anybody from my team with a bat or ball in hand, I'm equally happy as long as our crowd is enjoying, and we are winning,” he signed off.