"Proud of our fielding" - Sikandar Raza brutally mocks Zimbabwe players after 3rd T20I loss to India

The Sikandar Raza-led Zimbabwe National Cricket Team went head-to-head with the Shubman Gill-led India National Cricket Team in the third T20I of the India tour of Zimbabwe 2024 at the Harare Sports Club.

The third match was a crucial one for the Chevrons as after facing the highs of the first T20I they faced crushing defeat in the second T20I. Under Sikandar Raza's leadership, the hosts pulled off a massive upset by defeating the star-studded Indian team by 13 runs.

Despite a complete batting failure, it was the bowlers who got the job done for the side. A score of 115 posted by Zimbabwe looked like a walk in the park for the Indian team until the bowlers brought out their A-game and restricted them to 102/10 in 19.5 overs.

The next match, however, went completely against Zimbabwe as the Indian batters displayed sheer class and decimated the hosts with their aggressive batting. Zimbabwe conceded a humongous 234 runs and their batters only managed 134, which resulted in them facing a humiliating 100-run loss. The Zimbabwe batters couldn't get going and they weren't able to trouble the Indian bowlers with only two batters touching the 30-run mark.

In the third T20I, India once again batted first and the Zimbabwe bowlers did a good job, but no support from the fielders meant that they weren't able to get quick wickets. The visitors were allowed to post 182/4 on the board and Sikandar Raza along with Blessing Muzarabani bagged two wickets each for the hosts.

During the run-chase, the Zimbabwe top order once again collapsed which put them under tremendous pressure. Dion Myers displayed a great batting with a 65-run knock, but it wasn't enough for the win and they lost by 23 runs.

I think it's the fielding again, we are proud of our fielding but the wheels came off today - Sikandar Raza

At the post-match presentation ceremony, Zimbabwe skipper Sikandar Raza launched an attack on their poor fielding in the match as they dropped several catches, which eventually cost them the game. Sikandar Raza stated:

"I think it's the fielding again, we are proud of our fielding but the wheels came off today, we gave away 20 extra runs and we lost by 23 runs. We still have problems at the top but I have utmost faith in them that they will come good some time."

Sikandar Raza while speaking about the situation of the opening pair in Team Zimbabwe, stated that they have tried 15 different openers but things haven't panned out well for them. He also slammed the senior players of the team for not stepping up in the match. Sikandar Raza said:

"We have tried 15 different partners (openers) in the last year and a half or so. There is a lot of cricket going on in the country and club cricket has revived. It's time that our players including myself take up the responsibility. The youngsters making mistakes is acceptable but the senior players need to step up. You cannot fix a problem by creating another problem, we have picked 3 openers for a reason. The openers that have been picked up should be given a run."

Sikandar Raza signed off by praising pacer Blessing Muzarabani for continuing to impress with his bowling. He said:

"(On Muzarabani) He has been outstanding, sometimes the rewards don't come but in the long run the rewards do come."