ZIM vs IND 2024: The wheels came off – Sikandar Raza blames fielding after loss in 3rd T20I

Zimbabwean captain Sikandar Raza feels the poor fielding led to his team’s 23-run loss against India in the third T20I at the Harare Sports Club, Harare on Wednesday. After coming up with an inspiring performance in the first game, the hosts have veered off the track in the last two matches, especially in the field.

The home team dropped two catches after India decided to bat first. Furthermore, Zimbabwe were sloppy with their ground fielding and Raza feels they gave away 20 extra runs with the ball.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe openers once again failed to give a good start to their team after India posted a par score of 182 runs on the board. Wessly Madhvere and Tadiwanashe Marumani were dismissed after scoring 1 and 13 respectively.

Sikandar Raza feels the senior players must take the onus on their shoulders as they have all the experience under their belt. 

Sikandar Raza said in the post-match presentation, “I think it’s the fielding again, we are proud of our fielding but the wheels came off today, we gave away 20 extra runs and we lost by 23 runs. We still have problems at the top but I have utmost faith in them that they will come good some time. We have tried 15 different partners (openers) in the last year and a half or so.”

He added, “There is a lot of cricket going on in the country and club cricket has revived. It’s time that our players including myself take up the responsibility. The youngsters making mistakes is acceptable but the senior players need to step up. You cannot fix a problem by creating another problem, we have picked 3 openers for a reason. The openers that have been picked up should be given a run.”

Meanwhile, Blessing Muzarabani continued to impress as the lanky pacer returned with impressive figures of 2-25 in his quota of four overs. Muzarabani accounted for Shubman Gill and Ruturaj Gaikwad in his fine spell.

Showering praise on Muzarabani, Raza said, “He he has been outstanding, sometimes the rewards don’t come but in the long run the rewards do come.”

The fourth T20I will be played at the Harare Sports Club, Harare on Saturday.