Harare, (New Ziana)-Zimbabwe national cricket team captain Sikandar Raza believes the lessons learned from his side’s three-match T20I series against India will play a crucial role in helping Zimbabwe bridge the gap with the world’s leading cricket nations.
Zimbabwe suffered a 3-0 series defeat after India completed the clean sweep with a 35-run victory at Harare Sports Club on Sunday. Chasing 193, the hosts finished on 157/7 despite Ryan Burl’s unbeaten 54, after Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s sparkling 81 powered India to 192/5.
Reflecting on the series, Raza stressed the importance of regularly competing against elite opposition if Zimbabwe is to continue its development.
“A lot of them, to be honest with you. I think, firstly, well done to Zimbabwe Cricket for hosting these fixtures because if you do not play against the top nations in the world as a country, we can’t grow.
“And I think world cricket is much better when all the countries are playing good cricket. So the learning from this series will certainly help us bridge that gap between the top nations and the slightly lower-ranked nations because I feel like cricket is a lot more entertaining when everybody is playing really well,” he said.
Despite the series loss, Raza found plenty of positives, particularly in the performances of Zimbabwe’s younger players, who seized their opportunities against the reigning T20 World Cup champions.
“And for us, the biggest learning is the experience that we have had. Nyamhuri has certainly been a great addition to the side as well. Marumani taking on the number six and seven role. Madhevere has had some decent runs. So, there’s a lot of good things that I can think of,” Raza said.
The Zimbabwe skipper also spoke about the team’s ongoing efforts to reshape its dressing-room culture, emphasizing unity, resilience, and the need to match the intensity of the world’s best teams.
“The journey started long ago. We wanted to change a few things in the dressing room. We wanted to be there for each other’s success. We wanted to be there for each other’s failures. We wanted to wear our hearts on our sleeves. We wanted to fight for every ball. We wanted to bowl every ball with intent and bat every ball with intent. Along the way, especially in this new cycle, we wanted to change a few things because we feel like we have to match the intensity of world cricket.
“And along the way, we will have some bad games and I’m very okay with that. But one thing I do know, once the lessons and experience we have had match the standard of world cricket, once Zimbabwe come out, we will flourish,” he said.
On a personal note, Raza endured a difficult series with the bat, including a golden duck in the final T20I. However, the experienced all-rounder is already looking ahead to Zimbabwe’s upcoming tri-series tour of Namibia, where he hopes to return to form and continue leading the team’s rebuilding process.
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