THE Zimbabwe national cricket team is set to miss two key players — Sikandar Raza and Blessing Muzarabani — for the T20I series against Ireland next week.
Raza, who has been the poster boy of the Chevrons’ renaissance in recent months, will be conspicuous by his absence after Zimbabwe Cricket granted him permission to participate in franchise cricket abroad.
The in-form all-rounder has attracted the interests of global cricket following a brilliant outing in 2022, which saw him getting nominated for three International Cricket Council annual awards.
Zimbabwe Cricket said in a statement yesterday that fast bowler Muzarabani was also overlooked by the selectors as he is struggling with injury.
“Star all-rounder Sikandar Raza – who is in the running for the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year, ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year and ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year awards – will not feature in the series against Ireland after Zimbabwe Cricket granted him the permission to play franchise cricket elsewhere,” said ZC in a statement yesterday.
“Pace bowler Blessing Muzarabani, who is recovering from a quadriceps injury, has also missed out on selection alongside wicketkeeper-batter Regis Chakabva and batter Milton Shumba.”
Zimbabwe will host Ireland in three T20I matches on January 12, 14 and 15, all scheduled to start at 1pm local time. This will be followed by the three-match ODI series between the two sides set for January 18, 21 and 23. All the games will be played at Harare Sports Club.
The good news for Zimbabwe, however, was that top order batsman Gary Ballance is now in line for his debut with the Chevrons after switching allegiance from England recently.
The inclusion of Ballance was one of the four changes made to the 15-man side that represented Zimbabwe at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022 in Australia recently.
The left-handed batter — who previously played 23 Tests and 16 ODIs for England between 2014 and 2017 — recently signed a two-year contract to play domestic and international cricket in and for the country of his birth following his release from county cricket side Yorkshire.
Ballance is a product of the Zimbabwe system. Before moving abroad, he had starred for Zimbabwe at the ICC Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup in 2006 while still a schoolboy at Peterhouse Boys School in Marondera.
The selectors also added exciting former Zimbabwe Under-19 batsman Tadiwanashe Marumani, Innocent Kaia and Victor Nyauchi as the new faces in the squad.
Zimbabwe will be at near-full strength when they face Ireland at Harare Sports Club with captain Craig Ervine, Sean Williams, Tendai Chatara and Richard Ngarava all available for the series.
The T20I matches will be played starting next Thursday, with the last two games over the weekend of January 14-15. All the matches are scheduled to start at 1pm.
The T20I games will be followed by the three-match ODI series between the two sides set for January 18, 21 and 23, also at Harare Sports Club.
The second game was initially penciled in for January 20 but, in anticipation of a huge spectator turnout, Zimbabwe Cricket and Cricket Ireland have agreed to move the match to the next day, which will be on a Saturday.
“We are grateful to our colleagues at Cricket Ireland for agreeing to tweak the schedule a bit by moving the second ODI initially scheduled for a Friday to the next day in order to give our fans an opportunity to come out and enjoy the action on a day when most of them are not at work,” ZC Director of Cricket, Hamilton Masakadza, said.
“It’s now over to our fans to turn up in their numbers, like they have been doing in the last six months, and make this another memorable series pitting two exciting sides against each other. Tickets for the series are now on sale online at www.webtickets.co.za and will also be available at the venue gates on matchdays. There will be free entry for pensioners and children in full school uniform.”
But the spectators are likely to feel the absence of fans-favourite Raza, who has franchise cricket gigs lined up in Bangladesh, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates.
Raza is expected to feature in the Bangladesh Premier League after he was signed up by Rangpur Riders. The 43-day-long BPL will get underway tomorrow, with the grand finale scheduled for February 16.
Raza and the injured fast bowler fast bowler Muzarabani have also been booked for the inaugural International League T20 to be held in the United Arab Emirates from January 13 to February 12. The two were signed by Dubai Capitals for the upcoming gig.
Raza also has a date with the Pakistan Super League, which starts on February 6 and ends on March 19.
The in-form all-rounder was signed up by the defending champions Lahore Qalandars for the upcoming season. The Chevrons star was one of the players in the Gold category of the PSL draft.
Raza and fellow all-rounder Burl recently returned home from the disappointing Nepal T20 League, which started on December 24 and is expected to end on January 11.
Raza played only two matches for Biratnagar Super Kings before heading back home soon after Christmas while Burl stayed a bit longer and eventually left this week after he had scored a brisk 61 from 40 balls last Sunday.
The Nepal tournament has been offset by controversies as players have complained on non-payment of money while red flags have been raised about potential match-fixing. Sadly, the two Zimbabwean players returned home unpaid.
ZC spokesperson, Darlington Majonga, explained in a previous interview with The Herald that there was nothing amiss with players getting involved in franchise T20 gigs around the world.
He said contracted players have to apply for No Objection Certificates to get permission to play franchise leagues abroad. However, Majonga added that the national team comes first in cases where there were clashes of schedules.
“ZC normally encourages players to play in those international gigs because they get good exposure. But they have to apply for No Objection Certificates, which ZC grants especially when the tournaments are not clashing with international assignments.
“That is why you have seen that a player like Raza has been involved in the Sri Lanka Premier League, the Dubai T10 and Nepal T20.
“But when the franchise tournaments are clashing with international duty, obviously Zimbabwe comes first. So far, I am not sure if anyone has applied for a NOC but that is the standard procedure,” said Majonga.
Their opponents Ireland have since issued out NOCs to some of their key men to miss part of the white-ball series in Zimbabwe.
Veteran batsman Paul Stirling and Lorcan Tucker have been granted approval to miss the T20I series and play in the new International League T20 in UAE, while Josh Little will miss the T20I series to play in the SA20 in South Africa from January 10 to February 11. The players will join the rest of the squad in Zimbabwe for the one-day series.
Teams
Ireland T20I squad:
Andrew Balbirnie (captain), Mark Adair, Ross Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Stephen Doheny, Fionn Hand, Graham Hume, Tyrone Kane, Barry McCarthy, Neil Rock, Harry Tector, Ben White.
Ireland ODI squad:
Andrew Balbirnie (captain), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Stephen Doheny, Graham Hume, Tyrone Kane, Josh Little, Andy McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Paul Stirling, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker. – The Herald
