ZIMBABWE T20I captain Sikandar Raza is confident his team will build on the momentum gained from their recent limited-overs series victory against Sri Lanka as they host Namibia in a three-match series starting today in Bulawayo.
The Chevrons have shown a refreshing paradigm shift, playing with heart and pride, and being highly competitive throughout the ODIs and T20Is.
Raza attributes the progress to the team’s experiences against top-ranked sides like South Africa and New Zealand.
Despite a tough day from the bowlers in the final T20I against Sri Lanka, Raza is backing his players to bounce back and put their art back on track with the preparatory games against Namibia.
“Yes, you got to remind them the good they have done. I’ve just got to remind them how good they have done over the past few weeks and all the good things they have achieved,” he said.
“I’ll keep reminding them who they are, what they have done for the country, how well they have bowled. Here and there, a bad over mustn't take away all the shine of all the good performances they have done.”
Added Raza: “I’ll keep backing them, but I’ll also be there for them to say, ‘listen, this is what we need to do to get better and credit to our bowlers as well’.
“We have a very good culture environment in our changing room. The encouraging thing is that they take the constructive criticism, and they want to get better as well. So, it’s a very, very good place to be at and I know we’ll come back better.”
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The road to the Africa Qualifier has seen Zimbabwe evolve from a bowler-strong side to a more balanced team with inspired batting performances.
“I think going into these series, people might have said our strengths might be our bowling, our fielding and batting might be our weakness,” Raza said of the team’s performance.
“Now it seems to be a bit of like the inverse a little bit. Ideally, you want to be a team that is comfortable in batting first and chasing, bowling first and defending because toss mustn’t dictate the result in my opinion.
“That is where the true success of a team lies. You cannot just lose the toss and say the game is over because that’s not right. So, if you are good enough in your skills and if everybody is pulling in the right direction, then those things don’t matter.
“So, perception to me really does not matter. We need to be in a place where we can put a huge total on the board and then defend it and then if we have to bowl first, we chase it down as well."
“Ideally, you want to be a team that’s comfortable in batting first and chasing, bowling first and defending. The toss shouldn’t dictate the result.”
The Zimbabwe T20I squad for the Namibia series includes Sikandar Raza (captain), Brian Bennett, Ryan Burl, Brad Evans, Trevor Gwandu, Tinotenda Maposa, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Tony Munyonga, Tashinga Musekiwa, Blessing Muzarabani, Dion Myers, Richard Ngarava, Brendan Taylor and Sean Williams.
