Players.bio is a large online platform sharing the best live coverage of your favourite sports: Football, Golf, Rugby, Cricket, F1, Boxing, NFL, NBA, plus the latest sports news, transfers & scores. Exclusive interviews, fresh photos and videos, breaking news. Stay tuned to know everything you wish about your favorite stars 24/7. Check our daily updates and make sure you don't miss anything about celebrities' lives.
Players from lower-ranked nations have limited opportunities to learn from competing with top-tier teams but franchise cricket has helped them develop their skills by rubbing shoulders with elite cricketers, Zimbabwe's T20 skipper Sikandar Raza has said.
Ahead of the second season of Zim Afro T10, the six franchises picked very strong but balanced squads at the Player Draft. The second season of the Zim Afro T10 is scheduled to commence on September 21 and will conclude with the grand finale on September 29, in Harare. Among the big names waiting to entertain the crowds at the Harare Sports Club are the likes of David Warner, Sikander Raza, Colin Munro, Dawid Malan, Carlos Brathwaite and Chris Lynn.
All-rounder Sikandar Raza is undoubtedly one of the great talents ever produced in Zimbabwe. Since his debut in 2013, Raza has played 17 Tests, 142 ODIs, and 91 T20Is and gave many memorable performances. Not just in international cricket, Raza has also widely contributed in domestic leagues like the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Pakistan Super League (PSL). Talking about his personal life, the 38-year-old all-rounder originally hails from Sialkot, Pakistan, and was recently asked on social media about his thoughts on playing for the country where he was born.
In a first, Zimbabwe will become the first team in modern cricket to receive a "touring fee" from the hosts in bilateral cricket when they will travel to England for a one-off Test match in the summer of 2025. England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive Richard Gould confirmed this development on Sky Sports, as per ESPNCrinfo. During the Final World Podcast last year had said that a collective push was needed by all full member nations in cricket to eliminate revenue disparity and treat players and fans to quality Test cricket. This touring fee was one of the recommendations he had made.
The big-hitting Suryakumar Yadav is the highest placed Indian at second spot, while young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal occupies the sixth position in the ICC T20I batting rankings issued on Wednesday. Ruturaj Gaikwad has dropped a place to the eighth position in the T20 batters' list, which was updated following India's recent 4-1 series triumph over Zimbabwe. Jaiswal was the big winner following his 141 runs in the series as he rose four places, behind No.1 ranked batter Travis Head of Australia and Suryakumar.
After losing T20I series to India 4-1, Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza said the side have to rectify their problems at the top of the order with the bat, adding that attitude on the field is also a grey area for them to work on in future. Zimbabwe won the opening match by 13 runs, but let go of the early advantage to lose the series. "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 after the match ended.
Sanju Samson's well-crafted fifty and Mukesh Kumar's disciplined spell helped India wind up their Zimbabwe tour with a comprehensive 42-run victory in the fifth and final T20I in Harare on Sunday. With this win, India clinched the series 4-1. Samson's (58, 45b) was central to India's healthy 167 for six along with Shivam Dube's flashy 26 (12b). Then the India bowlers led by Mukesh (4/22), Shivam Dube (2/25) and Washington Sundar (1/7) did their job, bundling out Zimbabwe for 125 in 18.3 overs.
Yashasvi Jaiswal scripted history by smashing 12 runs in the very first ball of the Indian innings during the fifth T20I encounter against Zimbabwe on Sunday. Sikandar Raza bowled a high full-toss to begin proceedings and Jaiswal slammed it comfortably over deep square-leg for a six. The umpire signalled for a no-ball and it was a free-hit for India. The next delivery was a length delivery and Jaiswal once again powered it straight down the ground for the second consecutive six. India ended up scoring 13 runs in just one legal delivery and Jaiswal became the first cricketer ever to score 12 runs off the first legal delivery of a men's game in T20I cricket.