Sikandar Raza missed out on a place in Zimbabwe’s side for their tour of Bangladesh for a tri-series involving Afghanistan, as he was reprimanded on disciplinary grounds. Raza, according to a Zimbabwe Cricket release, has been left out over pending disciplinary issues raised by captain Hamilton Masakadza.
"It is important that we support our captain, whether it is Masakadza or anyone else, by creating an environment in which we can be confident he will have the full support of all players, with everyone pulling in the same direction and able to trust each other. It is for those reasons that we have decided to leave Raza out," Zimbabwe convenor of selectors, Walter Chawaguta, said.
The squad otherwise has experienced players Brendan Taylor, Craig Ervine, Sean Williams and Christopher Mpofu in addition to an array of younger players like Tony Munyonga, Ainsley Ndlovu, Ryan Burl, Tinotenda Mutombodzi and Neville Madziva. Of them, Munyonga and Ndlovu will be in line for their T20I debuts.
Masakadza has announced that he will retire from international cricket after this series and mentioned, "I was looking forward to the T20 WC Qualifier in Dubai next month, but with Zimbabwe barred from taking part in the event, I feel that the time is right for the focus to shift to the next generation.”
Zimbabwe has been suspended by ICC and won't be able to play in the qualifiers for the next year's T20 WC in Australia. They have instead shifted focus on qualifying for the ICC World Cup 2023 to be played in India.
Head coach Lalchand Rajput said, "We are now shifting our focus to rebuilding a new team and to do that we must gradually blood in younger players and create a new culture that encourages unity, hard work, professionalism, and excellence. We will not make wholesale changes, as we definitely still need some of the experienced players to help the new generation find their feet in international cricket. It is important that we still field a competitive side - that is why we have a good mix of youth and experience in the team that has been selected for the Bangladesh tour."
Zimbabwe squad for Bangladesh triangular series:
Hamilton Masakadza (captain), Regis Chakabva, Richmond Mutumbami, Sean Williams, Neville Madziva, Tinotenda Mutombodzi, Tony Munyonga, Kyle Jarvis, Tendai Chatara, Christopher Mpofu, Craig Ervine, Brendan Taylor, Ainsley Ndlovu, Timycen Maruma, Ryan Burl
