Rohit Sharma and Sikandar Raza
Rohit Sharma and Sikandar Raza

Rohit Sharma was amongst the three batters Zimbabwe T20I captain Sikandar Raza named when asked by a fan on X. Raza has been at the forefront of Zimbabwe’s resurrection in T20I cricket.

His versatility with both bat and ball has made him an invaluable asset to Zimbabwe across all formats of the game. Raza’s aggressive batting approach, allied with his off-spin bowling, has often won games for his team.

Aside from his on-field abilities, Raza’s journey from Pakistan to become a cornerstone of Zimbabwean cricket demonstrates his determination and passion for the game.

During a Q&A session on Twitter (now X), Sikandar Raza was asked to share his favorite bowlers and batters in cricket today.

Amongst the three batters that Sikandar Raza named, India captain Rohit Sharma was the biggest name chosen. The other two batters Raza chose were Pakistan’s Abdullah Shafique and Zimbabwe’s own Craig Ervine.

Pakistan’s Abdullah Shafique has played 17 Tests, 12 ODIs, and 6 T20Is for Pakistan having made his debut in 2020. He has 1330 runs in Test with an average of 44.33 and best score of 201. He has hot 4 centuries and 5 fifties in Tests thus far. In ODIs, he has 416 runs with one century and 4 fifties at an average of 34.66.

Craig Ervine has been a pillar of Zimbabwe cricket since his debut in 2010. He has played 21 Tests, 119 ODIs, and 79 T20Is since then. Ervine has also captained Zimbabwe, but has 3376 runs in ODIs with 4 centuries and 20 fifties with a best score of 130*. In T20Is, Ervine has 1449 runs with 9 fifties to his name.

However, their record pales in comparison to Rohit Sharma, who has played 59 Tests, 263 ODIs, and a record 159 T20Is. Rohit, who made his India debut in 2007, has made 4137 runs in Tests with 12 centuries at an average of 45.46.

However, he is a white-ball giant with 10767 runs in ODIs at an average of 49.16 and 31 centuries to his name. He remains the only batter with three double-centuries in ODI cricket, with the all-time highest score of 264. In T20is, he has the most centuries-5 with the highest score of 121* at a strike rate of 140.89.

Sikandar Raza names his three favorite bowlers in the world today

After naming his three favorite batters Raza also shared his favorite bowlers. The Zimbabwe T20I captain Raza named Sunil Narine, Shaheen Afridi, and Jasprit Bumrah as his three favorite bowlers today.

Jasprit Bumrah is the hottest bowler in the world now, with 159 Test wickets in 39 games, 149 ODIs wickets in 89 matches, and 89 T20I scalps in 70 games. However, his effect has been more on winning big games for India. Bumrah was recently the Player of the Tournament in India’s T20 World Cup win.

Sunil Narine’s international career might have been marred due to his bowling action issues, but he still is a T20 World Cup winner in 2014. However, he is a giant in T20 leagues, with 557 wickets in 519 games with a best of 5/19 and an economy of 6.12.

Shaheen Afridi is one of the brightest young talents with over 100 wickets in both Tests and ODIs and 96 scalps in T20Is, just at the age of 24 years.

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