Sikandar Raza Expresses Desire To Play A Bilateral Series In Pakistan
Jul 14, 2017 at 2:31 PM
All-rounder Sikandar Raza who played a pivotal role in helping Zimbabwe clinch a memorable 3-2 series victory in the ODI series in Sri Lanka has expressed his desire to play a bilateral series in Pakistan. He conceded that the players get love and support wherever they play throughout the world and Pakistan is no exception. Raza was born in Pakistan and would love to get back to his country of birth to compete in a bilateral series.
The African minnows toured Pakistan in the year 2015 for a two-match T20 series and a three-match ODI series and despite not winning any of those matches, Raza said he is still eager to go and compete against the Sarfaraz Ahmed led the side in their territory. Zimbabwe was the first team to tour Pakistan for a bilateral series since the 2009 militant attack on the touring Sri Lankan team.
“It was a great experience playing that series in 2015 against Pakistan and I would love to play another series in Pakistan in the future. We get love and affection from cricket lovers wherever we play in the world and Pakistan is no different in that regard,” Raza was quoted as saying by the PakPassion.net.
Raza expressed his desire following his team’s historic achievement. They were thoroughly professional in each and every department of the game and Raza conceded that he was running out of words to express the happiness he and his team felt after clinching the series against the Islanders.
He also added that the series victory will surely bolster their confidence in the future and give a strong message to the oppositions that Zimbabwe too can be competitive.
“We are absolutely delighted with the way things have gone. If you ask different people, they will tell you different reasons for playing cricket, but cricket for us, it is all about creating history, and to do so in Sri Lanka in the way we did is beyond what words can describe. It hasn’t fully sunk in yet and it’s hard to believe. After winning the game, we had team gatherings and celebrations and the guys were just enjoying the moment and not thinking too hard about the implications. However, what this win has shown the world of cricket is that we can be competitive and that we can win against the bigger nations,” he said.
The all-rounder further said that the series win will surely help them play a lot more matches against the top-ranked side which will enable them to rewrite many more histories in the coming future.
“We’re a nation that has suffered from a shortage of international games annually; in every calendar year, we’re looking to play around twenty games but we cannot even play that number of games. It’s difficult to judge a team or the ability of the players when we’re playing such a minimal number of matches. I’m hopeful that this series victory can bring us a lot more games which will, in turn, help us as we try to be more consistent in future and win more series. Zimbabwe needs more international matches,” Raza signed off.