Sikandar Raza fit to play against India, confirms Ryan Burl
What's the story
Zimbabwe all-rounder Ryan Burl has confirmed that his skipper Sikandar Raza is fit to play against India in the 2026 ICC Men's T20 World Cup Super 8 clash. Raza had suffered a blow while bowling in Zimbabwe's last match against West Indies, raising concerns over his participation in the high-stakes encounter. However, Burl dismissed any doubts about the all-rounder's availability with a light-hearted remark during a pre-match press conference.
Availability
Raza is 100% playing: Burl
"Sikandar Raza is 100% playing. Good luck telling him that he's not going to play against India. Yeah, he's going to be playing," said Burl on Raza's availability. According to ESPNcricinfo, Raza is just 15 away from completing 3,000 runs in T20I cricket. He will become the first Zimbabwe player with this mark. The all-rounder has scored 2,985 runs from 131 matches at an average of 26.18 with 16 fifties and a hundred.
Past performance
'It will be quite dangerous...'
Zimbabwe earlier pulled off stunning wins against Sri Lanka and Australia, proving their mettle in tough away conditions. When asked about lessons from that experience to silence a home crowd like India's, Burl was cautious with his response. He said, "It will be quite dangerous to answer how I am going to silence India in India."
Game strategy
Zimbabwe's approach for the match
Burl further explained their approach for the upcoming match against India, saying it won't be much different from their previous games. He said, "We have our processes, we've got our game plan... but ultimately we want to play the game that we know how to play and we have found a lot of success doing it that way." Neither India nor Zimbabwe can afford another defeat in the tournament.