Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza has said he should be contributing more with the bat after his side slipped to a 90-run defeat in the second T20I against India in Harare. Zimbabwe were bowled out for 129 in pursuit of 220, and the loss meant India wrapped the series up with one game to spare.
"Yeah, we were going to go for it anyway, and if you look at our openers as well, I think they gave us that sort of a start we needed," Raza said. "Unfortunately, I think it all comes down to sometimes inexperience, [and] sometimes the shot selection, where we're letting ourselves down. But most importantly, I think I as a captain leading the team has been letting the team down with my bat."
Raza hasn't had a great run in T20s of late. He has fallen for three successive single-digit scores in the format, including for 4 and 0 against India after being dismissed for 3 against Bangladesh just before. Raza's lack of runs has mirrored Zimbabwe's lack of returns with the bat. In their last three T20Is, Zimbabwe have managed to score just 143 and 126 batting first, while they were bowled out for 129 when chasing a total.
"But the onus is on me to try and get it right because my team needs my runs and bowling, and unfortunately it hasn't been the case in the past two T20 games," he said. "I'll try my best to turn it around because the team could do really well with my runs."
The third T20I against India is set to be played in Harare on Sunday, and both Zimbabwe and Raza will hope for a change in fortunes to avoid a 3-0 clean sweep.
