Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza expressed his delight after the African nation confirmed their place at next year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, which will be hosted in India and Sri Lanka.
Zimbabwe and Namibia booked their spots by reaching the final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Africa Qualifier in Harare, finishing unbeaten in their groups.
The Chevrons went on to win the Africa Qualifier final against the Namibians by seven wickets on Saturday at Harare Sports Club to finish the campaign in style.
On Thursday Zimbabwe sealed qualification with a seven-wicket win over Kenya in the second semi-final while Namibia defeated Tanzania by 63 runs in the first semi-final to qualify for their fourth-successive edition of the competition.
Zimbabwe topped Group B after victories against Tanzania, Uganda and Botswana. Reflecting on the result, skipper Raza called qualifying for the World Cup ‘life changing’.
“Certainly feels relieving, to be honest. I mean, personally, I haven’t had a lot of sleep and a lot of food because these qualifiers have been playing on my head because Zimbabwe’s been in far too many qualifiers and we have far too many heartbreaks,” he said after their win over Kenya.
“World Cups change lives, World Cup brings honour and respect to the nations and for Zimbabwe to qualify for the next year’s World Cup.
“Out of all the years I played cricket for Zimbabwe, all we’re looking for is to earn our respect in Zimbabwe and you can do that by qualifying for the World Cups and then do well in the World Cups,” Raza added.
Zimbabwe’s qualification ends a four-year wait with the African side having last played in the 2022 edition in Australia.
They have featured in six editions of the competition so far.
“This year again, we have qualified. Now hopefully we can put our best foot forward in the next World Cup and that will bring this nation a lot more respect, a lot more happiness and I think we deserve that.”