Zimbabwe’s T20I captain Sikandar Raza has challenged his teammates to improve their fielding after his team’s 4-1 defeat to India in the T20I series which concluded on Sunday.
The Chevrons won the opening match by 13 runs, but let go of the early advantage to lose the series on home soil.
Poor fielding was Zimbabwe’s major Achilles heel during the series with several dropped catches and misfields at crucial periods, which ultimately cost them the series.
Richard Ngarava takes a catch during the fifth T20I between Zimbabwe and India at Harare Sports Club on Sunday. Image credit: Zimbabwe Cricket
Raza noted that while there has been a slight improvement with the team’s batting and bowling, their fielding remains a major letdown.
“I thought Blessing (Muzarabani) bowled well the whole series. Batting-wise, we are still below-par, but we are starting to rectify the problems at the top. You are going to have bad games here and there.
“The grey area for me will remain our attitude in the field, we are still making a lot of mistakes, that’s controllable, we are going to keep working hard and hopefully keep getting better,” said Raza.
In Sunday’s game, Muzarabani and Ngarava were the bright spots with the ball, something which pleased Raza.
“It was unfortunate that Richie (Ngarava) wasn’t fit at the start of the series. Had he been declared fit, he was gonna play all the games. To have him fit is certainly a blessing because we all know his quality. To have Richie and Blessing … every time I was in trouble I looked up to them and they did the job for the team, really happy for those two boys.”
After the T20 series defeat against India,, Zimbabwe are now slated to play one-off Test match away against Ireland later this month.
Raza, who has not played any red-ball cricket either on the domestic circuit or for Zimbabwe for a lengthy period was not included in the squad which will be led by Craig Ervine.
“My workload needs to be managed. I haven’t played any four-day cricket in the last two years post my surgeries. My shoulder isn’t 100%, I don’t want to be a guy who just gets a jersey.”
“I need to go back, respect my domestic cricket and also respect my domestic cricketers who have put a lot of runs. I will go back to play domestic cricket and test my own fitness. I am still available for Test match cricket but at this point of time, I am not because I haven’t played a lot of four-day cricket. I’ll leave for Manchester for The Hundred in a few days time, I am looking forward to that,” he concluded.