WITH the Chevrons’ journey at the International Cricket Council Men’s T20 World Cup seemingly over with one match left, it is however, not all over for one man who is on the verge of making history once again.
Sikandar Raza who in August became the first-ever Zimbabwean to be voted ICC Player of the Month is about to make history again as he has been nominated for the October accolade.
In August, it was an all-rounders affair when he edged England’s Test captain, Ben Stokes and New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner. This time around, the 36-year-old Zimbabwean all-rounder will be facing stiffer competition in Indian stalwart Virat Kohli and South Africa’s explosive batsman David Miller.
“Incredibly humbled for the nominations and great company I have here,” posted Raza on Twitter regarding the nomination.
Raza delivered some superb performances for Zimbabwe, which has seen him collect three Player of the Match gongs in Australia. In fact, whenever Zimbabwe have won, Raza has been voted at the most outstanding player in that encounter. He started the month with a stellar knock against Ireland in the opening match of the World Cup. He scored 82 runs off just 47 deliveries and bowling figures of 1/22 to win the Player of the Match. The 82 is now the highest-ever score by a Zimbabwean batsman at the T20 World Cup to beat the 60 not out by Brendan Taylor against Australia at the 2007 World Cup in South Africa.
He went on to deliver another stellar all round performance against Scotland in Zimbabwe’s make or break tie to help the Chevrons book their place in the next stage. He scored 40 runs off 23 deliveries and registered bowling figures of 1/20.
With no notable scores with the bat against West Indies and Pakistan, the veteran all-rounder however, came in good with the ball, taking 3/19 against West Indies and 3/25 against Pakistan. His brilliant spell with the ball against Pakistan helped the team secure a memorable one run victory.
With Kohli having recently rediscovered his old form that makes it tricky for Raza to take home the prestigious award. Just like Raza in the first match of the World Cup where he came in to score 82 runs after a bad start, Kohli played the same innings in their first match.
After India were reduced to 31-4 chasing 160 against rivals Pakistan, Kohli produced what he himself described as best T20I knock he has ever played to guide the Indians to a one run win. He also followed up his knock against Pakistan in the T20 World Cup with another composed 62 not out from 44 deliveries against Netherlands.
Miller has been enjoying a sensational run of form this year and he kicked it up a notch higher in October. He started the month with a 47-ball 106 not out in a T20I against India in Guwahati, which unfortunately came in a losing cause. He made 75 not out when the Proteas floored India by nine runs in an One Day International in Lucknow and capped it off with a match-winning 59 not out against Rohit Sharma’s men once again in Perth, that too on a big stage like the T20 World Cup when South Africa won by five wickets.
An independent ICC voting academy as well as fans around the world can now vote to decide the winners, which will be announced next week. Fans registered at icc-cricket.com/awards are invited to cast their votes until Sunday. Votes by the voting academy carry a 90 share of the final vote while those cast by the fans have a 10% weight.
Raza and the Chevrons face India in their last group match of the Super 12 on Sunday. – The Chronicle
