'We're below-par' - Sikandar Raza fumes at Zimbabwe batters, fielders after T20I series loss to India

The Sikandar Raza-led Zimbabwe National Cricket Team locked horns with the Shubman Gill-led India National Cricket Team in the fifth and final T20I of the India tour of Zimbabwe 2024 at the Harare Sports Club on Sunday, July 14.

Sikandar Raza's team entered into the match with self-respect on the line, having already lost the series after facing a hat-trick of defeats against the visitors.

The hosts stunned Team India by beating them in the first T20I by 13 runs to build the momentum for a competitive series. Skipper Raza had led from the front in the first game as he won the Player of the Match award for his 17 (19) with the bat and 3/25 with the ball.

However, things didn't go in their favor in the next three games and the Shubman Gill-led team completely outplayed them and won three matches on the trot to seal the series.

In the second T20I, the Zimbabwe bowlers were decimated by Abhishek Sharma, Ruturaj Gaikwad, and Rinku Singh. The bowling unit of Chevron looked clueless and had no answers to the assault by the Indian batters and ended up conceding 234/2, with Blessing Muzarabani and Wellington Masakadza picking one wicket each. Also, a failure with the bat meant that they lost the game by 100 runs.

In the third T20I, the Zimbabwe bowlers weren't able to keep things tight and allowed the opposition to register 182/4, with Sikandar Raza and Blessing Muzarabani picking up two wickets each. The batters, however, weren't able to play well and they lost by 23 runs.

The story of the 4th T20I was similar for Zimbabwe as a decent batting display helped them reach 152/7, but poor bowling saw them lose by 10 wickets. In the 5th T20I, Zimbabwe finally won the toss and chose to bowl first.

They did a good job in the match and restricted India to 167 for 6, a total that was gettable on the surface at the Harare stadium. However, they once again failed miserably with the bat and got bundled out for 125, losing the match by 42 runs.

Batting-wise, we are still below par, but we are starting to rectify the problems at the top - Sikandar Raza

Speaking after the match, Sikandar Raza said that Blessing Muzarabani bowled well throughout the series. He added that they are still below par with the bat and awful on the field. Sikandar Raza elaborated:

"I thought Blessing bowled well the whole series. Batting-wise, we are still below par, but we are starting to rectify the problems at the top. You are going to have bad games here and there. The grey area for me will remain our attitude in the field, we are still making a lot of mistakes, that's controllable, we are going to keep working hard and hopefully keep getting better."

Sikandar Raza further spoke at length about the need to manage his workload and the issues he is facing with his shoulder. Sikandar Raza stated:

"My workload needs to be managed. I haven't played any four-day cricket in the last two years post my surgeries. My shoulder isn't 100%, I don't want to be a guy who just gets a jersey. I need to go back, respect my domestic cricket and also respect my domestic cricketers who have put a lot of runs. I will go back to play domestic cricket and test my own fitness. I am still available for Test match cricket but at this point of time, I am not because I haven't played a lot of four-day cricket. I'll leave for Manchester for The Hundred in a few days time, I am looking forward to that."