PAK vs ZIM: “The Best Victory We Have Ever Had” – Sikandar Raza On Zimbabwe's Historic T20 World Cup 2022 Win vs Pakistan

The 36-year-old batting all-rounder Sikandar Raza has labeled Zimbabwe’s ICC T20 World Cup 2022 triumph over Pakistan as the best victory he has been part of in his 203-match international career.

In the 24th match of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022, which saw the battle between Babar Azam’s Pakistan National Cricket Team and Craig Ervine’s Zimbabwe National Cricket Team, the Chevrons pulled off a major upset by defeating the Men In Green by 1-run while defending a modest total of 131 at the Optus Stadium in Perth on Thursday, October 27.

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At the post-match press conference, Sikandar Raza, who won the Player of the Match award for his glorious performance, said:

“Since I have been part of Zimbabwe cricket, I would rate that the best victory we have ever had.

“There is no better stage, this is the World Cup, the biggest stage of all, and to beat Pakistan by one run, (defending) a modest total, you are going to have to do everything right to defend that which we did, so that is probably the best victory I have been part of with Zimbabwe.”

Sikandar Raza was asked if the win over Pakistan was bigger than the 1983 World Cup win over Australia. Raza responded that he will have to ask coach Dave Houghton, who was part of that victory in Nottingham, which triumph was bigger.

“I am going to have this conversation with the head coach,” Raza said with a smile.

“I am going to ask him which victory was better, 1983 or 2022. I will let him answer that.” 

We have a lot of youngsters picking up this sport back home – Sikandar Raza

Sikandar Raza further said that the current Zimbabwe players have an added responsibility to make sure that cricket grows in their country and that more people get inspired to take up the game as a sustainable career option. He said:

“We have a lot of youngsters picking up this sport back home. A lot of parents are accepting that their kids can have a future in this sport. I feel this group of players has an added responsibility to make sure cricket grows in Zimbabwe. We always talk that Zimbabwe has a very small pool of players but that is maybe because not many are taking up this sport.

“We want to make sure that this group of boys can achieve and encourage something, where not just players but their families, everybody, can truly believe that there is a future in the sport and raise the flag high.” 

Raza further said that they are not looking very far ahead to the semi-finals and they are focusing on one game at a time. He elaborated:

“We are going to take one game at a time, but we have opened up the group for everyone. Basically, anyone who plays good cricket can win. You never know where Zimbabwe will end up.

“The Irish boys did that as well to the other group. Zimbabwe have really got the chance to achieve something. I am not going to start thinking about the semi-final. I am going to look at one game at a time, look at Bangladesh and take it from there.”

Also Read: PAK vs ZIM: “What A Shocker” – Wasim Akram After Pakistan’s Shock ICC T20 World Cup 2022 Loss vs Zimbabwe