Without a doubt Zimbabwe cricket’s MVP (Most valuable player) in 2022, Sikandar Raza has had a phenomenal year in the sport. Whether with bat or ball, Raza has constantly been on top of his game. His exploits this year have even transcended the different formats of the sport and he is being duly recognised for this. Yesterday the ICC revealed their nominations for the 2022 ICC Awards and appearing in multiple categories is none other than Raza.
The sportsman made the shortlists for the ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year, ICC Men’s ODI Cricketer of the Year and the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for the ICC Men’s Cricketer of the Year.
According to the ICC website, in 2022 Raza had 1380 runs and 33 wickets in 39 matches. He emerged as a crisis man for Zimbabwe in a year that saw the African country’s stocks rise in international cricket.
Raza was a force to reckon with in both white-ball formats, scoring more than 600 runs in both T20Is and ODIs. The star all-rounder enjoyed his most prolific year with both bat and ball since making his debut in 2013.
Raza scored 645 runs at an average of 49.61 in ODIs. All three of his centuries in the 50-over format came when the chips were down while chasing – two of them resulted in wins over Bangladesh and the final one gave India a huge scare.
In T20Is, Raza struck at an incredible strike rate of over 150 to accumulate his 745 runs. He was also the highest wicket-taker for in the shortest format, scalping 25 while giving away just 6.13 an over. He was the Player of the Tournament at the T20 World Cup Qualifier B in July and carried his form into the marquee event, winning the Player of the Match thrice, including Zimbabwe’s epic win over Pakistan.
