Born in Pakistan on April 24, 1986, Sikandar Raza Butt is a Zimbabwean cricketer who competes internationally. As an all-rounder, he bats right-handed and bowls right-arm off-spin. He also bowls right-handed. In May 2013, he gave Zimbabwe his first appearance on the international stage. Raza was born in Sialkot, but he and his family moved to Zimbabwe in the year 2002.
Soon after, he established himself as one of the most talented batsmen in the home league, which attracted the attention of the Zimbabwean selectors. The only trouble was with citizenship, which was finally given in the year that was 2011. During the year 2002, Raza relocated to Zimbabwe with his family. In Scotland, he attended Glasgow Caledonian University to get a bachelor’s degree in software engineering. He traveled there to further his education.
Following the reorganization of Zimbabwe’s domestic system in 2009, Raza moved on to play cricket for the Mashonaland Eagles at the first-class level. In the course of the 2007 Logan Cup, he made his debut in the first-class competition on April 12, 2007, playing for Northerns versus Easterns. He has achieved a high score of 146 in first-class cricket, making him a successful player. In addition, Raza was a member of the Northerns, a team that competed in List A cricket, but he eventually moved to playing for the Mashonaland Eagles. In 2007, he made his debut on the List A scene.
Through a match against the Desert Vipers in 2010, he made his debut in the Twenty20 competition for the Southern Rocks. It turned out that Raza was an expert at Twenty20 cricket, and he was the player who scored the most runs in the Stanbic Bank Twenty20 Competition in 2010. When Southern Rocks defeated Mid-Westst Rhinos in the final of the Metbank Pro40 Championship in 2010, Raza produced an outstanding 44 runs for the team, which helped Southern Rocks win the championship with ease.
Sikandar Raza Biography
| Name | Sikandar Raza |
| Full Name | Sikandar Raza Butt |
| Date of Birth | 24 April 1986 |
| Place of Birth | Sialkot, Punjab, Pakistan |
| Other Names | NA |
| Nationality | Zimbabwean |
| Father’s Name | Tasadaq Hussian Raza |
| Mother’s Name | NA |
| Siblings | NA |
| Spouse | NA |
| Marriage Date | NA |
| Children | NA |
| Role | Batting Allrounder |
| Batting | Right-handed |
| Bowling | Right-arm leg break |
| ODI Debut | May 2013 vs. Bangladesh |
| Test Debut | September 2013 vs. Pakistan |
| Favourite Food | Braai |
| Favourite Actor | NA |
| Favourite Actress | NA |
| Favourite Colour | Red |
| Retirement | April 2023 |
The selection committee took notice of him when he gave his first significant performance. For the first time in his career, he reached his highest List-A score of 80 runs in January 2011. Raza’s exploits earned him a spot in the preliminary squad for Zimbabwe’s attempt in the 2011 Cricket World Cup; however, he did not make it into the final 15-man team.
At that time, he had already delivered yet another outstanding performance at the Masvingo Sports Club. His opening partnership of 161 with Chamu Chibhabha, which, merely by bludgeoning the bowlers of the Matabeleland Tuskers, laid the groundwork for a big win for Southern Rocks. The Zimbabwean selectors chose Raza to be a part of the training squad for the tri-series competition against Australia A and South Africa A as a result of this. The only thing that would have been different was that he did not have citizenship status, which was awarded to him in September 2011.
In the match between Southern Rocks and Matabeleland Tuskers, he had already achieved yet another incredible performance, hitting 93 runs off of only 48 balls at that point. Raza took on the bowling assault of the Matabeleland Tuskers after opening the innings with the iconic West Indian Brian Lara and subsequently receiving considerable backing from Elton Chigumbura. After that, he was a member of a Zimbabwe XI team before the beginning of the Bangladesh visit traveling to Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe XI claimed victory in each of the matches.
In the players’ draft that took place on June 3, 2018, Raza was chosen to be a part of the Montreal Tigers team that will compete in the first-everbal T20 Canada event. It was announced in July 2019 that Raza had been chosen to participate in the first-ever Euro Twenty20 Slam cricket competition as a member of the Amsterdam Knights roster. However, the event was canceled the month after it was scheduled to take place.
Batting & Fielding Stats
| YEAR | MAT | NO | RUNS | HS | AVG | BF | SR | 100 | 50 | 4S | 6S | CT | ST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Career | 9 | 2 | 182 | 57 | 26.00 | 136 | 133.82 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 8 | 5 | 0 |
| 2024 | 2 | 0 | 43 | 28 | 21.50 | 38 | 113.16 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 7 | 2 | 139 | 57 | 27.80 | 98 | 141.84 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 0 |
Bowling
| YEAR | MAT | BALLS | RUNS | WKTS | BBM | AVE | ECON | SR | 4W | 5W |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Career | 9 | 84 | 141 | 3 | 1/19 | 47.00 | 10.07 | 28.00 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 2 | 12 | 22 | 0 | 0/22 | – | 11.00 | – | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 7 | 72 | 119 | 3 | 1/19 | 39.67 | 9.92 | 24.00 | 0 | 0 |
The Trinbago Knight Riders announced in July 2020 that he will be a member of their team for the Caribbean Premier League in 2020. Raza received the news that he will be playing for the Southern Rocks in the Logan Cup for the 2020–21 season in December of 2020. While participating in the 2023 Pakistan Super League selection, the Lahore Qalandars selected Raza in the Gold Category round. This took place in December of 2022. The Punjab Kings, who competed in the 2023 Indian Premier League, paid fifty lakhs to acquire Raza in December of 2022.
On April 1, 2023, he made his debut in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Punjab Kings against Kolkata Knight Riders. He scored 16 runs off of 13 balls and went on to take the figures of 1-25 from three overs. It was on April 15, 2023, that he achieved his first half-century in the Indian Premier League. He scored 57 runs off of 41 balls, which contributed to his team’s victory against Lucknow Super Giants by two wickets. As a result of this, he became the first player from Zimbabwe to register a half-century in the Indian Premier League.
During the first of the five-match home bilateral one-day international series in 2013, Raza scored 82 runs off 112 balls, including six fours and two sixes. This was just his fourth appearance in an ODI. The series would consist of five matches. It was on September 3, 2013, that he made his debut in a test match. He scored sixty runs in his first match, which was against Pakistan at Harare Sports Club. During that match, he and Malcolm Waller had a partnership of 127 runs for the fourth wicket, which placed the hosts in a position to take the lead.
