Zimbabwe’s Sikandar Raza will miss out on cricketing action for an indefinite period of time as he suffered from a bone marrow infection. He was suspected to have bone cancer and underwent surgery on April 2 and got the tumor removed. Doctors have cleared Raza of any serious illness.
Raza, who was born in Pakistan’s Sialkot on April 24, 1986, has played 17 Tests, 103 ODIs, and 39 T20I matches for Zimbabwe making his debut in all three formats in 2013. Raza has 1187 Test runs, 2856 ODI runs, and 520 T20I runs with a total of 4 centuries to his name. He also has a total of 103 wickets in international cricket.
The team is currently playing the T20I series against Pakistan and is also scheduled to play two Tests. But Raza himself has cleared that he has been ruled out of both the series. He is currently at home, undergoing cycles of medication and injections and said that he first felt a lot of pain in his right arm during the Zimbabwe-Afghanistan series in Abu Dhabi last month. He played both Tests and the three T20Is, which ended on March 20.
“I had pain in my right arm during the Abu Dhabi Tests. We treated like it was muscular pain initially but the pain kept getting worse. I remember staying up all night, unable to sleep despite having sleeping pills. That’s how I played the Test matches,” he said while speaking to ESPNCricinfo.
There’s No Set Date For My Return: Sikandar Raza
Raza underwent surgery in which puss and a red substance were removed his bone and sent for further testing. The biopsy results came negative clearing the cricketer of any tumor or cancer. He also spoke about his future in cricket and how he understands that it will be some time before he can return on the field again.
“All of this was sent it for a biopsy, and it came back as negative. There was a type of infection but only last night the bone biopsy report ruled out the cancer. I have been ruled out indefinitely. There’s no set date for my return. Of course this not being cancerous has suddenly fast-tracked some of it.
After the lab professor studies my MRI, I will apparently be on medication and jab for the next six months. We want to treat it aggressively so that I don’t get the infection again. I am very sure that I have three to five more weeks of doing nothing, if everything goes smoothly,” Raza said.
Raza was thankful to the Zimbabwe Cricket officials including chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani and managing director Givemore Makoni, as well as the team physio Trevor Wambe who took special care of him.
Sikandar Raza Shares An Update On His Health On Twitter
Sikandar Raza, soon after reports came out, himself updated about his health on Twitter thanking everyone for praying for his health.
“I want to thank you all for your prayers Prayers certainly were answered and I’ve been cleared of Tumor and Cancer which is nothing short of a miracle I am short of words to express and show how grateful I am to you all for your prayers,” Raza wrote in his tweet.
