Brandon Moyo
ZIMBABWE international cricketer, Sikandar Raza, is continuing with his impressive show on the global stage as he has been named the new captain of his Caribbean Premier League (CPL) side, St Lucia Kings.
The Chevrons stalwart replaces South African legend Faf Du Plessis at the helm of the franchise.
Du Plessis suffered an elbow injury and has been ruled out for the rest of the season.
This will be Raza’s second stint as a captain in an internationally-recognised T20 franchise league.
His first stint as a skipper came last year where he captained Dambulla Aura, in the absence of Dasun Shanaka, in the Lankan Premier League (LPL).
Du Plessis has rallied behind him to do a good job as he comes in with a lot of T20 franchise experience after having taken part in some big competitions such as the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Pakistan Super League (PSL).
“Raza is someone who has played a lot of T20 and T10 cricket,” said Du Plessis.
“So, very much an experienced brain there, so, it’s great to have those guys on the field and ask questions.
“Obviously, it’s a change, and probably you could say a big change because it’s someone stepping into the shoes for the first time with the St Lucia Kings.
“But, luckily, we’ve got someone like Sammy there who will make sure for the first one or two games there will be some direction from his side.
“And then trust the guy on the field with the resources that he has at his disposal.”
Raza said they will miss Du Plessis.
“Faf has done such a fantastic job with this team, we are going to miss him dearly but most importantly we wish him well because he is going for a surgery so a lot of prayers for Faf for his successful surgery and for his quick recovery because this family is incomplete without him.
“For my side, when you have so many good professionals and great guys with great attitudes then captaining is not really a big thing, everything looks after itself because everybody is so focused and motivated to do well,” said Raza.
Raza’s first assignment as the captain comes on Sunday against fifth placed Barbados Royals in
Bridgetown.
This will be their seventh match of the campaign.