Sikandar Raza: 'We got Zimbabwe into this mess, so it's our job to take the team to new heights'. The Zimbabwe captain talks about the demands he has made on his players, beating Australia, the advice he gets from Courtney Walsh, and the team's dedicated fan base. Sikandar Raza: "Captaincy has allowed me to get the best out of the teams by understanding them at a personal level"•Matthew Lewis/ICC/Getty Images. We meet Sikandar Raza, Zimbabwe's captain, a day after he made a match-winning 45 off 26 balls against Sri Lanka in a packed Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. It has been a good World Cup for Raza and Zimbabwe, who made it to the Super Eight this year after failing to qualify for the 2024 T20 World Cup. What is your routine now, during Ramzan? Today [February 20], I stayed up till sehri [the pre-dawn meal eaten before fasting till sunset]. I did not go to sleep because I was thinking: if I fall asleep at one or two in the morning, will I be able to wake up at 4:30am? So I stayed awake till sehri and then had milk, dates, honey, a little bit of food, fruits. Where do you get the energy to play the way you did against Sri Lanka while fasting? Fasting gives you that energy. Yeah, it can be a bit hard at times, but believe me, fasting actually gives you energy rather than take it away. Before the Sri Lanka game, a couple of commentators were discussing how strange it is to see Zimbabwe in the Super Eight instead of Australia, who have been knocked out. As Zimbabwe captain, how do you react to such comments? Before I answer that, a lot of the people do not even know that Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Ireland are Test nations. There's been a lot of chatter about "Oh the Associate cricketers are doing well. Look at Zimbabwe, look at Ireland." That tells me people do not do their homework and just want to open their mouths, and anything that comes out, they'll just post it or say it. Almost everybody's got a chance [in the group stage]. I thought Scotland had a good chance [for a team that] didn't even qualify [for the World Cup originally], because I watched their cricket quite a lot. So anybody who's at the World Cup has an equal chance. I'm not sure how you determine which team has a better chance. It's XI vs XI, isn't it? And you came as well prepared as any team can, didn't you? Yes, in a way. Because we were playing our domestic T20 [tournament] - we ended up playing two rounds. And after playing those two rounds, we left straight for Hambantota [in Sri Lanka] for World Cup preparation. And after nine-ten [days] there, we came to Colombo. We were hoping that we will get some international fixtures, but didn't get them. I wouldn't say we were as prepared as the other teams, but we were as best prepared as we could have been. This has not been an easy journey for Zimbabwe - a Full Member country having to play the sub-regional Africa Qualifier, then the Africa regional qualifier, to make it to the World Cup. Last year you were playing teams like Seychelles, Mozambique, Rwanda, Gambia. Were there days when it was difficult to keep going? No. If anything, I felt motivated because we got Zimbabwe cricket into this mess. If the boys are not motivated or if the boys are thinking about leaving at that time, how selfish can we be? Zimbabwe cricket did not play the sub-regional Africa Qualifier when our seniors [the previous generation] were playing. We got Zimbabwe into this mess. So to take Zimbabwe to new cricketing heights, it's our job. That's what motivated us. When we went to sub-regional Africa Qualifier B, that was the only thing I said: it is a mess, but we've got no one to blame but ourselves, so we get Zimbabwe out of this mess. Why were Zimbabwe in a mess? A Test nation should not be playing the sub-regional Qualifier B. How did you arrive in that mess? Not qualifying for the [2024] T20 World Cup via the Africa Region Qualifier, where we lost to Namibia and Uganda [in 2023] hurt us and added to our misery. In the 2022 T20 World Cup in Australia, we had a good chance to get to the Super Eight but didn't because of a three-run loss versus Bangladesh, and then another defeat against Netherlands, where we read the wicket not so well. At one point we were looking at a semi-finals spot, and had we won one of those games, we would have qualified for Super Eight and [would] not go through regional Qualifier as a sub-regional. But anyway, it is what it is. We needed that reality check. You recently said the leadership group demands a lot of things from the players. What were the demands? I have never been a guy who shares dressing-room stories, whether they are good or bad. The only thing I'll elaborate on that point is: more than performance, we demanded commitment and honesty. We demanded from players to be fully committed to the game, to our training, to our methods, to our vision, to our process, and to be honest among each other. This nonsense of: we are together on a good day and then we sit in little groups on bad days has got to stop. This business of rocking up for training late, excuses that you can't come for whatever reason, has to stop. Either all of us are together, and if you are not, then the truth of the matter is, nobody has to get rid of you, cricket will get rid of you anyway. Your performances will dip, your commitment level will show in the park, and eventually you'll be shipped out. As a batter you have performed several roles, from an opener to a finisher. But now you seem to be able to change gears effortlessly, like you did in the chase against Sri Lanka. How do you master this process of changing gears? I honestly don't think I've mastered it. But the fact that I always try and learn and get better allows me to make mistakes. There's a quote that says: "Winners make the most mistakes." So I'm happy to make the mistakes, because it takes courage to even try something, and sometimes when you are batting out there, all you need is courage. All this starts in my net sessions. And then you look for little clues: Are you picking the length well? Even if you have played dot balls, did you middle them? Those are the little clues you look at and then you say, "All right, it's time [to accelerate]." And once you say it's time, I stay fully committed and then I don't doubt myself. You were on six off nine balls and then hit two sixes and a four in the 15th over and then kept going like that. Did you develop this mindset while playing in T20 leagues? Certainly, franchise cricket has helped a lot. It has brought world cricket closer as well. And if you look at the lesser-ranked Test nations and the top Associate nations, the graph of the players playing in the [T20] circuit cricket has certainly grown better. So franchise cricket has brought cricket really close, which is a beautiful thing. And yes, playing franchise cricket has helped me make those decisions and learn those skills and also have that mindset of when it's time [to go aggressive] and when it's not. But I think regarding that over, after the time out [drinks], I looked at the scoreboard and I said to my batting partner, "Listen, Benny [Brian Bennett], we need 12 an over. [If] we find one over of 20 [runs], it's going to be down to nine an over. We will find one over of 11, then it will be smooth sailing at 8 to 7 [runs an over]." So I said, let's see if we can find that 20-run over as quickly as possible so that we don't leave too much for ourselves later. And since he [Bennett] is set, he has to bat through to give Zimbabwe the best chance to win, I have to take the risk. You score a lot of runs these days in the region between backward square-leg and fine leg. The stroke you play is not quite a slog sweep. It goes finer. Is that one that you've added through franchise cricket, because we didn't see you playing it much before 2017, when you used to hit more straight towards midwicket? With time, I realised I was getting stuck. I look at my weakness after every two or three tours, look at those numbers and say, all right, this is where people will be targeting me. Then I try and stay ahead of that. You work on those things, sometimes uncomfortable things. You'd rather bleed in the nets than cry on match day. Senior players Graeme Cremer and Brendan Taylor are back in the Zimbabwe squad. You've got an impressive bunch of young players as well: batters Bennett, Tadiwanashe Marumani, and Tony Munyonga, and the fast bowlers. The range of skills must help you as a captain? Certainly. You cannot run this ship by yourself. You need good people around you. Also, don't forget Burly [allrounder Ryan Burl] and I have been on a journey for a very long time as well. We have a great understanding of each other. If he sees something [he doesn't agree with], he's not shy to come and straightaway say, no, this is what I think. It's very nice that we have all these three-four senior guys. Then we have not-so-junior players like Blessing [Muzarabani] and [Richard] Ngarava. And then you have the very young guys. So it's a very nice mixture of old and young. Are there any instances from Zimbabwe's win over Australia where players like Muzarabani or Bennett took independent decisions that showed you how they are helping the team grow? There's also an unsung hero in Brad Evans, who took three wickets against Australia and two against Sri Lanka. Marumani took down Australia in the powerplay [scoring 26 off 15 balls]. I understand how the media and people want to put those star performers at the forefront, but one thing that we have changed in our team culture is that we decide our own Man of the Match in the change room. We have three awards in the change room after every match. Yesterday's Man of the Match was Brian Bennett [63 not out vs Sri Lanka], Moment-of-the-Match was Tony Munyonga, who hit a six in the last over; the third award went to Marumani for [being] the workhorse of the match [34 off 26 balls and a stumping]. When I first started playing cricket, it was very much about the milestones. When I took the captaincy, this was a very big thing on my list: these not-outs. Playing for milestones will make you better, but it will not help the team to win games. That is what playing franchise cricket helped me learn. So what is the growth you have seen in some of these players? I've seen the growth in Brian. And ,ore impressively in Marumani because he's starting to string those 30s and 40s together, and, inshallah, he will win us a game. He'll be a Man of the Match in one of these games. He's doing all the right things and, from experience, you can tell that he will be rewarded one day, probably the most important day of our cricketing journey at the World Cup, because he does all the right things: sacrifices for the team, a proper team man, trains well, but unfortunately he gets out here and there, but that's inexperience sometimes. Maru's going to do something special. Tony Munyonga has copped a lot of criticism, abuse, unfortunately, from people on social media back home, but the boy has stood tall. If he hadn't hit a six in the high-pressure moment yesterday, we wouldn't have won the game [against Sri Lanka]. [Tashinga] Musekiwa has been brilliant. Dion [Myers] hasn't got a chance, but I was telling him yesterday, "Dion, you batted in the first game [against Oman], you [didn't get a chance against Australia and Sri Lanka] and the match [against Ireland] was rained off. Just make sure that with all that hunger and fire you have, the next time you get an opportunity, you bat, boy. And knowing Dion, he's going to put up a big score very soon, or he's going to give us that impetus in the innings that we need. The culture we have created now is: try and take the game forward every time you go. This slowing down when reaching a milestone has to stop. Have you given Bennett the specific role to bat deep? Looks like everybody's thinking that. I will not confirm nor deny it (chuckles). Bennett, who has now scored a century in each format, is one of the brightest stars in Zimbabwe. Has he surprised you with his growth? When he first came in, I didn't think he'd get better this quickly. I was always sure that Bennett will play for Zimbabwe and he's going to be a star, but credit to him and his family and the people who work with him. You have played your matches this World Cup in Sri Lanka, which has more spin-friendly surfaces, but it is your pace bowlers who have taken the bulk of the wickets - 20 out of 26 wickets in the group stage. What are the strengths of your fast-bowling unit? And now we are going to conditions that hopefully will suit them slightly better. Can't wait. With [Tinotenda] Maposa, Ngarava and Blessing, certainly height is a factor. With Brad, his biomechanics, like he's so athletic, that is his strength. When he gets locked in mentally, he's very strong. How has Courtney Walsh, Zimbabwe's bowling coach, helped these guys? If you see the performances [recently], clearly Courtney has made a difference. I haven't worked with him as a spinner, but my interactions with him about the pitch, about the understanding of the game, about the bowlers [have been illuminating]. Courtney has been brilliant with the wealth of knowledge and the experience and the information that he shares about the bowlers. I walk up to him and say, "Courtney, I'm confused, I'm thinking about this match-up", and he'll tell me exactly what I need to know to help me make my decision. Graeme Cremer was a game-changer against Sri Lanka, picking up two wickets, with his legbreaks. In fact, in one over he had three chances, of which he took one. Yes, yes (smiles). I told him he would have taken those chances when he was younger. How do you think Cremer and Brendan Taylor have coped with returning to international cricket? When Joe [Cremer] came back, people thought, oh, he's just walked into the national team. But he played club cricket, 11 or 12 List A games, two rounds of T20 cricket, six first-class games - all of that to see how fit he is. He doesn't want to come back and then let the country and his team-mates down. And it wasn't just the work that he did. He was the leading wicket-taker in the domestic T20s and took 9 for 144 in a first-class match he played. Not only that, despite us picking Wellington [Masakadza] when we played just one spinner, no one knows the amount of overs Cremer would bowl in the nets. He didn't have to, but he did just so that he can keep building his workload, because, being an ex-captain and a professional cricketer, he understands that in international cricket, due to the pressure of the game, the different conditions, he needed to be super-fit at this age [39] to make it. How have you changed as a captain in the last few years? For a Zimbabwean captain to be successful, it is very important you understand your players on a personal level to the extent where you might have to just go uninvited and ring their doorbell and say, "I didn't hear from you. Is everything okay?" I'm not shy to be an uninvited guest here and there. You have to understand the player's upbringing. Did they grow up with their mom and dad, or grandparents, or just siblings? You have to understand what motivates them and what brings them down. You have to understand what lifts them up and what kills them inside, but they'll not say it. You have to understand the different cultures you have in the changing room will need to be treated respectfully - in a different but equal way. Once you are dealing with different cultures and different races, you have to go out of your way to understand them so that you can ask things of them in a way where they will respond better. Captaincy has allowed me to be a better sort of man manager. It has allowed me to get the best out of the team by only understanding them at a personal level. Who are the captains you have looked up to? I took courage from Shaheen [Afridi at Lahore Qalandars in PSL]. He makes brave decisions. I took understanding of captaincy as an allrounder from Polly and Bravo [Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo], because I spent a lot of time with them. Rovman Powell - [I took] calmness from him when we were team-mates for three years at Dubai Capitals in ILT20. From this current squad, who are the future leaders of Zimbabwe? That is not for public knowledge. There's three players I've recommended to Zimbabwe Cricket. Can you tell of a time when your players placed their trust in you? I try and walk the talk rather than just talk. So if there's a certain way I want the team to train, I'll probably be the first one to train that way. For example, in these conditions in Sri Lanka, we felt two seamers is probably the way to go. So we said, okay, who's going to open the bowling in the powerplay? And I said: I'll do it [to] give that cushion to my team, because for two fast bowlers to bowl three overs in the powerplay would have been very tough on them and on the dynamics of the team. Wellington has also done it [opened the bowling as a spinner] in the past. After qualifying for the Super Eight, you said that is only one of the boxes Zimbabwe have ticked. What are the aspirations you had at the beginning of the tournament? There's a quote along the lines of "Never share your dreams, just achieve them." So the goals we have, if we achieve them, you will see it. I will not share it. But the ultimate goal always is to win, right? Hundred per cent. The ultimate dream is to win the World Cup, yes. That's why we are here. Against West Indies, hopefully we play a good game and see where we go from there. How important are the next three matches for the future of Zimbabwe cricket? I'm happy about
