Sikandar Raza becomes ICC Player Of The Month

• Sikandar Raza, a seasoned all-rounder, made history.
• By being the first player from Zimbabwe to get.
• The ICC Men’s Player of the Month honor.

Sikandar Raza with three ODI hundreds in August alone, defeated England star Ben Stokes and New Zealand all-rounder Mitchell Santner.

To win the ICC player of the month award.

Raza becomes the first player from Zimbabwe to win the ICC monthly gong, joining a distinguished group of athletes who have achieved this feat.

Raza was obviously ecstatic to add the honor to his ever-expanding cricket portfolio.

“I’m incredibly humbled and honored to have won the player of the month award from the ICC – more humbling that I’m the first Zimbabwean to ever win such an award,” Raza said.

“I would like to thank everybody who has been in the changeroom with me over the past three to four months – that goes out to the technical staff and to the players. Without you guys this would not have been possible.

“Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the fans in Zimbabwe and overseas for all your prayers, for all your wishes…they were well received and I’m forever grateful.”

The right-unbeaten hander’s 135 against Bangladesh at the beginning of the month is probably the best of Raza’s three hundreds for the month, which came against top-tier assaults.

At 62/3 and needing 304 to win, Zimbabwe was in trouble when Raza and teammate Innocent Kaia put together a huge 192-run stand for the fourth wicket.

As the more aggressive of the two batsmen, Raza continued to play until the very end, scoring 135 runs off just 109 balls as Zimbabwe defeated the Tigers in dramatic fashion.

The hosts were once again in a desperate situation in the following game, behind 292 by 49/4, when Raza once more performed the miracle. Regis Chakabva was there to keep him company this time.

Zimbabwe seized an unbeatable lead in the series as Raza (117* off 127 balls) batted through right up till the end to lead his team to a second straight victory.

He was also Zimbabwe’s top bowler, finishing with superb statistics of 3/56 from his 10 overs despite delivering the challenging overs in the last overs.

In the final ODI against India, Raza came close to pulling it off as well, but unlike the prior occasions, he received little help from the other end.

He stayed at the crease until the penultimate over while pursuing 290. The 95-ball 115 proved ineffective because India maintained their composure to complete a whitewash.

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