Zimbabwe captain and legendary all-rounder Sikandar Raza was on fire against India on Saturday (July 6) in the first T20I of the ongoing five-match series. In the series opener played at Harare Sports Club, the 38-year-old all-rounder picked up three wickets for 25 runs in four overs to help Zimbabwe successfully defend the total of 115 runs and beat India by 13 runs. For his super show in the series opener against the Shubman Gill-led side, Raza won the Player of the Match award.
The POTM performance in the first T20I between India and Zimbabwe has helped Raza move to No. 2 on the list of players with the most Player of the Match awards in T20Is. He has 15 POTM awards to his name in 87 T20Is played so far. Only former India captain Virat Kohli has won more Player of the Match awards than the Zimbabwe captain in the shortest format of the game.
Former world No. 1 T20I batter and star Indian cricketer Suryakumar Yadav has also won 15 POTM awards, but he has played 68 T20Is in comparison to Raza’s 87.
A total of three players—Rohit Sharma (India), Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan), and Virandeep Singh (Malaysia)—are joint third in the list, with 14 POTM awards each to their name.
Most POTM awards in T20Is
- Virat Kohli (India) – 16
- Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe) – 15
- Suryakumar Yadav (India) – 15
- Rohit Sharma (India) – 14
- Mohammad Nabi (Afghanistan) – 14
- Virandeep Singh (Malaysia) – 14
In the first T20I against India on Saturday, Raza came out to bowl in the 11th over for Zimbabwe, and after getting hit for a four on the first ball by Shubman Gill, he dismissed the Indian captain for 31 runs on the second ball. He then went on to dismiss Ravi Bishnoi and Mukesh Kumar. While Bishnoi was trapped in front of the wickets, Mukesh was bowled by Raza on the last ball of his spell.
Earlier, during the first half of the match, Raza came out to bat at No. 4 for the African team, which failed to qualify for the T20 World Cup 2024, and with the help of one four and one six, he scored 17 runs from 19 balls.
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