Zimbabwe national cricket team led by Sikandar Raza took on the Indian national cricket team led by Shubman Gill in the fifth and final T20I of India’s tour of Zimbabwe 2024 at the Harare Sports Club on Sunday, July 14.

Sikandar Raza’s side came into the match with self-respect at stake, having lost the series following a hat-trick of defeats against the visitors.

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

However, things did not go in their favour in the next three games and the Shubman Gill-led team completely outclassed them and won three matches on the trot to seal the series.

In the second T20I, Zimbabwe’s bowlers were decimated by Abhishek Sharma, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rinku Singh. Chevron’s bowling unit looked disoriented and had no answers for the Indian batting attack and ended up conceding 234/2, with Blessing Muzarabani and Wellington Masakadza picking one wicket each. Also, a misfire with the bat meant that they lost the game by 100 runs.

In the third T20I, Zimbabwe’s bowlers could not keep the game close and allowed the opposition to post 182/4, with Sikandar Raza and Blessing Muzarabani picking up two wickets each. However, the batsmen could not bowl well and lost by 23 runs.

The story of the fourth T20I was similar for Zimbabwe as a good batting display helped them reach 152/7 but poor bowling saw them lose by 10 wickets. In the fifth T20I, Zimbabwe eventually won the toss and elected to bowl first.

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

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

After the match, Sikandar Raza said that Blessing Muzarabani played well throughout the series. He added that they are still below their level with the bat and are horrible in the field. Sikandar Raza explained:

“I think Blessing played well throughout the series. Batting-wise, we’re still below par, but we’re starting to correct the issues at the top. We’re going to have bad games here and there. The grey area for me will continue to be our attitude on the field, we’re still making a lot of mistakes, that’s controllable, we’re going to keep working hard and hopefully we’ll keep improving.”

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

“I have to manage my workload. I haven’t played any four-day cricket in the last two years after my operations. My shoulder is not 100%, I don’t want to be a guy who just puts on a jersey. I need to come back, respect my domestic cricket and also respect my domestic cricketers who have made a lot of runs. I will be back playing domestic cricket and testing my own fitness. I am still available for Test cricket but I am not at the moment because I haven’t played much four-day cricket. I will be off to Manchester for The Hundred in a few days, I am looking forward to that.”