Sikandar Raza is a Pakistan-born Zimbabwean cricketer who has made a name for himself as an all-rounder. He has represented Zimbabwe in all formats of the game, i.e. Test, ODI and T20. He has also captained the Zimbabwean team and played many important innings, helping Zimbabwe win important matches.
Contents
Wiki/Biography
Sikandar Raza Butt was born on Thursday, 24 April 1986 (age 36 years; as in 2022) in Sialkot, Pakistan. His zodiac sign is Taurus. He attended the Pakistan Air Force Boarding School in Lower Topa and wanted to become a fighter pilot. He was among the 60 students out of 10,000 who were selected to become fighter pilots. After studying there for three and a half years, he appeared for his final medical test and failed the lens opacity test, which is important for pilots when they are flying at high altitude. In 2002, his family moved to Zimbabwe; However, he moved to Scotland, UK, where he completed his B.Sc. Started studying. in Computer Science at Glasgow Caledonian University. In 2007, he moved to Zimbabwe and started playing cricket at the amateur level, and found that he was better at the game than he expected. He completed his graduation in 2009. He started playing cricket in the domestic circuit in Zimbabwe at the age of 20 and became very popular. The selectors also took notice of him; However, his citizenship was becoming an obstacle after which he was granted Zimbabwean citizenship in 2011 so that he could play for the Zimbabwe national team. He has played in the Afghanistan Premier League, Bangladesh Premier League, Caribbean Premier League and Pakistan Premier League.
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 11″
Weight (Approx): 75 kg
Hair Color: Black
Eye colour: Light brown
Family
He belongs to a Punjabi speaking Muslim family.
parents and siblings
His father, Tassadaq Hussein Raza, moved to Zimbabwe from Japan in 2002. His father and 2 uncles also played cricket and wanted to represent Pakistan; However, his father later got into the motor parts business. He has a younger brother named Taimur Raza Butt.
wife and children
Not much is known about his wife; He has 2 children.
Sikandar Raza with his children
Religion
He follows Islam.
Address
He lives in Belvedere, Harare, Zimbabwe.
Citizenship
Although he was born in Pakistan, he impressed the Zimbabwean selectors with his performances in domestic cricket in Zimbabwe after which he was granted Zimbabwean citizenship in 2011.
livelihood
domestic
He started playing cricket in the Zimbabwean domestic circuit at the age of 20 and became very popular. The selectors also took notice of him; However, his citizenship was becoming an obstacle after which he was granted Zimbabwean citizenship in 2011 so that he could play for the Zimbabwe national team. He has played in the Afghanistan Premier League, Bangladesh Premier League, Caribbean Premier League and Pakistan Premier League.
international
tests
He made his debut against Pakistan on 3 September 2013 at Harare Sports Club Stadium, Harare and scored 60 runs. He scored 60 runs in his debut match; However, Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor stepped in, and was dropped from the team for the remainder of the series. He has played against Pakistan, Bangladesh, New Zealand, West Indies, South Africa, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. His best performance has been against Sri Lanka. He made his highest score of 127 runs in July 2017 against Sri Lanka at R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka. His best bowling performance of 7 wickets for 113 runs was against Sri Lanka at the Harare Sports Club Stadium, Harare, Zimbabwe in January 2020. He scored his maximum runs in a series, 243 runs, against Bangladesh in the series played in Zimbabwe in 2014. In the series played in Zimbabwe in 2019-20, he took the maximum number of 11 wickets in a series against Sri Lanka.
Sikandar Raza (right) playing test cricket
ODI
He made his debut against Bangladesh on 3 May 2013 at Queens Sports Club Stadium, Bulawayo and scored 3 runs. He has played against all the major ODI teams except England. The first highlight of his career was Zimbabwe’s 2017 tour of Sri Lanka, where Zimbabwe won the series 3–2. He performed brilliantly in the last match and scored 27 runs (not out) while chasing the target and also took 3 wickets for 21 runs. This was Zimbabwe’s first ODI series win against Sri Lanka and its first 5-match series win away from home. He scored 319 runs and scored 15 runs in the 2018 ODI World Cup Qualifier and was awarded the Player of the Tournament award. When Zimbabwe failed to qualify for the 2019 ODI World Cup, he said he was unhappy. In March 2020, he completed his 100 ODI matches. In August 2022, he also helped his team win the 3-match series against Bangladesh and scored 135 runs (not out) and 117 runs (not out) in 2 consecutive matches.
Sikandar Raza playing against Bangladesh
t20i
He made his debut against Bangladesh on 13 May 2013 at Queens Sports Club Stadium, Bulawayo and scored 14 runs. They have played against all the major teams. He performed brilliantly in the 2022 World Cup Qualifiers and guided his team to qualify for the 2022 World Cup as they won the match by taking 4 for 8 against the Netherlands in the final match of the tournament. He was awarded the Man of the Match award for his bowling performance. He also became the Man of the Tournament of T20 World Cup Qualifier 2022. In 2022, he scored 136 runs and took 3 wickets to help Zimbabwe reach the Super 12 stage of the T20 World Cup held in Australia. He made his highest score of 82 runs in 48 balls against Ireland in the first match of T20 World Cup 2022 and helped his team win the match.
Sikandar Raza bowling in T20 World Cup 2022
Jersey number
He wears jersey number 24.
sikander raza jersey number 24
controversies
In 2016, he was given out LBW in the 16th over in a T20 match against Namibia. He expressed his disagreement with the decision by showing his bat to the umpire, used abuses while walking towards the dressing room and used abuses again while entering the dressing room. He was fined 50 percent of his match fee and charged 2 demerit points after breaching ICC Code of Conduct Level 1.
Injury
In April 2021, Sikandar experienced pain in his right arm, which was later found to be an infection in the bone marrow. There were suspicions that he might have cancer; However, reports were negative. He returned to the game in July 2021.
fact
- He is the only Zimbabwean Test cricketer to have scored consecutive half-centuries in both innings of a Test match and also taken 5 wickets. In 2017, he scored 80 and 89 against West Indies in a Test match at the Queens Sports Club Stadium, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and took 5 for 99.
- He scored 50 runs in a test match and took 5 wickets in the same match. He has done this twice when he scored 72 against Sri Lanka and took 7 for 113 and 80 and 89 at the Harare Sports Club Stadium, Harare, Zimbabwe in 2020 and 5 for 99 against West Indies at Queen’s Sports For. Club Stadium, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe in 2017. He was also given the Man of the Match award in both the Tests.
- He set the record for the highest opening partnership in ODI cricket for Zimbabwe when he along with Hamilton Masakzada added 224 runs against Afghanistan at the Queens Sports Club Stadium, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe in July 2014. He made his highest score of 141 runs and Hamilton made 93 runs. He also set another record for most runs by any Zimbabwean player in an ODI run chase as well as a successful ODI run chase.
- His score of 135 (not out) against Bangladesh at the Harare Sports Club Stadium, Harare, Zimbabwe in August 2022 is the highest by any ODI batsman in a successful run chase batting at No. 5 or lower.
- He is the first Zimbabwean player to score 3 centuries in successful ODI match run chases and the first Zimbabwean player to score 2 centuries in consecutive successful ODI run chases.
- He is the fourth player to score 3 centuries in ODIs in a successful run chase in a calendar year.
- In August 2022, he became the first Zimbabwean player to be selected as the ICC ODI player of the month.
- His score is the highest by any Zimbabwean player in the T20 World Cup.
incredible batting @SRazaB24,
Deserving POTM Awards👏
▶️82 runs (48 balls) ▶️4s x 5; 6s x 5 ▶️Strike rate: 170.83 ▶️1/22 (3 overs) ▶️Eco: 7.33#Cricket #SRB24 #WCT20 #gym #all rounder #spin #OneTeamOneDream #stemsports pic.twitter.com/J7gDrDxmTt
– Stem Sports (@Stemsports1) 17 October 2022
- He is the first ODI player to score multiple centuries while batting at No. 5 or below in the same series.
- He is the first Zimbabwean player to score 600 runs in T20 cricket in a calendar year.
- He is represented by Stem Sports & Lifestyle Management Agency.
- He is the brand ambassador for Splash Zimbabwe, Srei Sports, The Country Club and PUMA South Africa.
- In an interview, Sikandar Raza had revealed that his favorite food is African Braai.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn