Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikandar Raza was arguably the pivotal player in his team’s shock but deserved win over Pakistan at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup on Thursday.
And Raza has credited a Ricky Ponting interview on the ICC website for inspiring his brilliant display in which he took three quick wickets at a crucial moment, including two in two balls, to blow through Pakistan’s middle order.
“I couldn’t sleep much last night, for me this game was playing over and over again, how we were going to bat,” Raza said.
“I made a few notes and I was reading over them again and again, and I said I’m going to stick with this. For Zimbabweans a lot of the learning is on the job, we don’t get to play the top nations a lot.
“When I woke up a friend of mine sent me a message and said, ‘hey have you seen a clip on the ICC page? Before I ruin it for you maybe have a look. That was Ricky Ponting talking about Zimbabwe and in particular me.”
The clip in question saw Ponting tell the ICC how Raza had stood out to him right through Zimbabwe’s qualification campaign and the early rounds of the tournament.
And Raza revealed his family were brought to tears by the words of Ponting, and that the Australian’s remarks inspired him ahead of the Pakistan fixture.
“Some of my friends and family members messaged and they said they had a kind of tear in the eye,” Raza said. “For me, I had goosebumps — one of the greats of the game talking about Zimbabwe and in particular me.
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“Not that I need an extra kick, but if I needed one that clip did the job for me. I wanted to stay calm but also pumped up for this game.”
Zimbabwe pull off stunning win against Pakistan to throw Group 2 wide open in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022.
In his video interview, ICC pundit and Australian legend Ponting explained why he had been so impressed by Raza and Zimbabwe.
“He’s 36 years of age, but he’s playing with more youthful exuberance than that,” Ponting said in the video. “It looks like he’s 26 again, running around the pitch enjoying himself and leading from the front. He’s had an amazing couple of years in international cricket. It seems to me his level of maturity has gone through the roof.
“He’s standing up in pressure moments, which you need to do. When you start talking about World Cups, players’ names and reputations are forged on how you perform in big games.
“He stood up in the qualifiers, basically single-handedly got Zimbabwe into the World Cup in the first place, and the two games they’ve won in this World Cup so far he’s been man of the match in both.”
Fired up by those words, Raza stood up once again to put his side in a position to secure a famous win, one of the T20 World Cup’s biggest-ever results.
