Newshub18:Zimbabweans want Raja as President.
Raja for President!’ ‘Raja for President!’ During the Bangladesh-Zimbabwe second one-day match, Harare Sports Club field grass gallery as if the harmony of music! The audience all want Sikander Raja to be president of Zimbabwe. There is an interesting logic behind it. The African country has been dealing with economic turmoil for years. No president can control inflation.
But Raja is controlling the run rate per over in a cricket match to chase runs.
In the ODI series against Bangladesh, he came down to chase runs and scored centuries in two consecutive matches. He finished the match undefeated in batting. When you can handle the pressure of chasing runs and win matches, the responsibility of controlling the country’s inflation should not be given to the king – this is the reason why the Zimbabwean audience chants ‘Raja for President’. Raja, however, has no desire to be president. His sole aim is to make Zimbabwean cricket competitive again. On the occasion of celebrating the series win last night, Raja was saying, ‘We want to win. Want to win in a row. Zimbabwean cricket has seen a lot of lows in the last few years. Now our job is to improve the ranking. Trying to win as many matches as possible. Tired of losing year after year, Zimbabwean cricketers now want to see themselves winning regularly. Raja was also saying, ‘We want to be part of a winning team culture.
We see other teams win, we see them smile. We want to have that joy too. And that is not possible without victory. For that we have made some changes in our dressing room and the way we play. Those are now working. Raja’s dream summer also began in Bangladesh. Last April in Dhaka Premier League, he scored 425 runs with 1 century and 2 fifties in 10 matches for Shinepukur.
Although the team failed to play in the Super League, Raja’s performance was remarkable. He played in another domestic tournament of Bangladesh in June itself. Bangabandhu played Rajshahi T20 tournament in Rajshahi. Before returning to the country, he has signed a contract with the Dhaka Premier League team Shinepukur for the next year.
Back home, he played an important role in helping Zimbabwe win the T20 World Cup Qualifiers. What he did against Bangladesh after that is still fresh. Raja sees a different role of playing experience in Bangladesh in the improvement of his game. He also expressed his gratitude to Bangladesh for that, ‘The fact that I am playing in different parts of the world is mainly because of Zimbabwe cricket. I will always be grateful for the opportunity. Thanks also to the other countries where I played and improved my cricket. Bangladesh will be the most advanced in this field.
I also have to thank the franchises and clubs that gave me the opportunity to play there. I am here because of playing competitive cricket. This Zimbabwean cricketer is also very well known to the cricketers of the Bangladesh team due to playing regularly in the domestic cricket of Bangladesh. That’s why he wanted to know why Bangladesh has become such a mess after coming to Zimbabwe? But he does not see any problem in the team, “There is no problem in the Bangladesh team.” As Bangladesh is a cricket crazy country, a slight fluctuation in performance makes everyone forget what the team has achieved recently. It is true that we won the series, but let’s not forget, Bangladesh is the number 2 team in the Super League. They have been able to win consistently.
At least I didn’t think Bangladesh played badly. There is still one match left in the series. Zimbabwe’s aim now is to thrash Bangladesh. Their desire is also understood in Raja’s words, ‘We have won the T20 World Cup Qualifiers. Australia has confirmed the World Cup. After that our target was to win a match in the ODI series, that too. Now I have won the series. But now we have to look at the last match.