1. Sikandar Raza Butt is a Pakistani-born Zimbabwean international cricketer.
49 Facts About Sikandar Raza
1. 2.
Sikandar Raza is an all-rounder, who bats right-handed and bowls right arm off-spin.
3.
Sikandar Raza made his international debut for Zimbabwe in May 2013 and is the first player from his country to score a T20I century.
4.
Sikandar Raza studied at the Pakistan Air Force Public School Lower Topa for three years and aspired to be a Pakistan Air Force pilot, but his dreams were cut short when he failed a vision test that was mandatory for selection in the Pakistan airforce at that time.
5.
Sikandar Raza went to Scotland, where he pursued a bachelor's degree in software engineering at the Glasgow Caledonian University.
6.
Sikandar Raza made his first-class debut on 12 April 2007 for Northerns against Easterns during the 2007 Logan Cup.
7.
Sikandar Raza is a successful first-class cricketer, with a top score of 146.
8.
Sikandar Raza played List A cricket originally for Northerns but later switched to play for Mashonaland Eagles.
9.
Sikandar Raza made his Twenty20 debut for the Southern Rocks in 2010 against the Desert Vipers.
10.
Sikandar Raza turned out to be a T20 specialist, and was the leading run-scorer in the 2010 Stanbic Bank T20 Competition.
11.
Sikandar Raza's performances earned him a place in the preliminary squad for Zimbabwe's 2011 Cricket World Cup campaign, but did not make it to the final 15 man squad.
12.
Opening the innings with the legendary West Indian Brian Lara and then getting great support from Elton Chigumbura, Sikandar Raza took on the Matabeleland Tuskers's bowling attack.
13.
Sikandar Raza then represented a Zimbabwe XI side before the Bangladesh tour to Zimbabwe started.
14.
On 3 June 2018, Sikandar Raza was selected to play for the Montreal Tigers in the players' draft for the inaugural edition of the Global T20 Canada tournament.
15.
In October 2018, Sikandar Raza was named in Tshwane Spartans' squad for the first edition of the Mzansi Super League T20 tournament.
16.
In July 2019, Sikandar Raza was selected to play for the Amsterdam Knights in the inaugural edition of the Euro T20 Slam cricket tournament.
17.
In December 2022, Sikandar Raza was drafted by the Lahore Qalandars as their Gold Category round pick at the 2023 PSL draft.
18.
In December 2022, Sikandar Raza was bought by the Punjab Kings in the 2023 Indian Premier League for 50 Lakhs.
19.
Sikandar Raza made his ODI debut for Zimbabwe in May 2013 against Bangladesh and scored only three runs batting at number three thus becoming the 116th player to appear for Zimbabwe in the format.
20.
Sikandar Raza became the first non-residential player to represent Zimbabwe at international level.
21.
Sikandar Raza scored 82 off 112 balls with 6 fours and two sixes against India during the first of the five match home bilateral ODI series in 2013 which was only his 4th ODI appearance.
22.
Sikandar Raza made his test debut on 3 September 2013 and scored 60 runs on his debut against Pakistan at Harare Sports Club, in which he had a 127-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Malcolm Waller that put the hosts on course for the lead.
23.
Sikandar Raza made his T20I debut on 5 November 2013 against Bangladesh.
24.
Sikandar Raza is the youngest person to hit a fifty in T20I.
25.
Sikandar Raza achieved this feat when he was just above 17 years old.
26.
Sikandar Raza scored his maiden ODI century against Afghanistan in July 2014, while opening the batting helping Zimbabwe to register a convincing victory over Afghanistan by eight wickets.
27.
Sikandar Raza set the record for the highest individual score by a Zimbabwe batsman in an ODI run chase as well as successful ODI run chase with 141.
28.
Sikandar Raza was part of the Zimbabwean squad for the 2015 Cricket World Cup tournament.
29.
Sikandar Raza was named stand-in captain in the second T20I during the India tour of Zimbabwe in 2015.
30.
Sikandar Raza led Zimbabwe in their first win of the tour by 10 runs.
31.
Sikandar Raza won the man of the match award for his match winning knock in the final ODI.
32.
Apart from fifer, Sikandar Raza scored two fifties and became only the second Test cricketer to score 80 plus in both innings and take a five-wicket haul after Proteas Jacques Kallis.
33.
Sikandar Raza was awarded the Player of The Tournament award for his 319 runs and 15 wickets during the Cricket World Cup Qualifiers though Zimbabwe failed to qualify for the 2019 Cricket World Cup.
34.
In January 2020, in the second Test against Sri Lanka, Sikandar Raza took the second-best bowling figures in an innings for a Zimbabwe bowler in Test cricket, with 7 for 113 from 43 overs.
35.
On 6 March 2020, in the third match against Bangladesh, Sikandar Raza played in his 100th ODI match.
36.
Sikandar Raza's condition was speculated to be cancerous and he would have probably amputated had he opted for chemotherapy.
37.
Sikandar Raza played a vital cog in Zimbabwe's golden run during the tournament where Zimbabwe defeated much fancied Netherlands in the final to secure a place for the 2022 ICC Men's T20 World Cup qualifying round.
38.
Sikandar Raza was awarded the Player of the Tournament for his all round prowess during the 2022 T20 World Cup Global Qualifier.
39.
Sikandar Raza became only the second Zimbabwean after Craig Ervine to score two centuries in successful ODI run chases.
40.
Sikandar Raza scored his second successive century in a row during the second ODI of the series.
41.
Sikandar Raza became the first Zimbabwean to score three ODI centuries in successful ODI run chases and became the first Zimbabwean to score two consecutive centuries in two successive successful ODI chases.
42.
Sikandar Raza was awarded the player of the series for his heroics with the bat and ball throughout the series and it was incredibly Zimbabwe's first ODI series win over Bangladesh since 2013.
43.
Sikandar Raza subsequently joined an elite list of having scored the most number of ODI centuries in run chases in a single calendar year with only Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli ahead of him in that list.
44.
Sikandar Raza became the first player to score three ODI centuries in ODI run chases in a same month of a calendar year as all three of his centuries in 2022 came in run chases in the month of August.
45.
Sikandar Raza made the most out of 2022 in the shorter formats aggregating 615 runs in ODIs and 516 runs in T20Is.
46.
On 20 June 2023, qualifier match against the Netherlands, Sikandar Raza showed his all round performance.
47.
Sikandar Raza scored unbeaten 102 runs from 54 deliveries hitting six boundaries and eight sixes.
48.
Sikandar Raza guided Zimbabwe to a 6 wicket victory and due to his all round performance he won player of the match award.
49.
On 23 October 2024, Sikandar Raza became the first Zimbabwe player to score a T20I century when he made 133 not out off 43 balls against The Gambia, during the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Africa Sub-regional Qualifier B tournament in Nairobi, Kenya.