Sikandar Raza- The Sikandar Of His Destiny!
Sikandar Raza sealed a cliffhanger for PBKS [Source: AP]
To say that this is a man who’s hugely talented would be actually stating a widely repeated statement of fact. So banal it is to say such a thing that it’s almost a cliche; it’s so well understood.
A leader amongst men, a cool head despite having all the aggression of a modern day cricketer. A man who can get things done especially when you most want it.
Want more? A man, who really never stops believing!
That’s whether for his national side or for a T20 franchise that he is committed to.
More often than not, when he is in the middle, it appears that a contest is just about to turn on its head. And it did just a couple of hours back and tens of thousands watched it with rich aplomb albeit coping with this some anxiety attack.
Sikandar Raza is all this and more.
Though, what he is not by any stretch of the imagination is an average Joe occupied in a cricketing contest.
He is a busy cricketer. T20 contests such as the Indian Premier League go on the edge. Not always, but they usually do.
And when they do, they require someone with deep match awareness and with the wits about himself to be the decider. To play the arbiter, the deliverer!
In some ways it made perfect sense that Sikandar Raza was in the middle of the Punjab Kings run chase when that tense final over took place against MS Dhoni’s Chennai SuperKings.
What could’ve been much worse is if Shahrukh and Raza’s wicket would’ve fallen.
This then would be led to a situation of total chaos and absolute capitulation, which would have ruined all the hardwork done by Liam Livingstone.
But it wasn’t to be, there was just no chance.
Not when Sikandar Raza was on the strike. Not even when he was perhaps facing one of the fastest- if not the absolutely quickest- seamers and that too, in a tense run chase.
The weird bowling action- and anyone saying that Patheerana isn’t someone with a complicated action doesn’t know his cricket- was not the only oddity to be faced with.
You didn’t want to let a good guy like Shikhar Dhawan down.
You didn’t want to let your own reputation as a T20 smasher be questioned and that too, when faced with unquestionable pressure.
Yet, a question arose perhaps seconds before in the minds of countless cricket viewers and who knows, maybe even the critics and the commentators.
Just how many times had one seen a final over in a tense run chase with not a single stroke hit towards the boundary on any part of the ground with just 10 needed of the final 6?
Was it always planned by the Punjab Kings to get the job done by 1s and 2s or even 3s?
But there were more thoughts wandering in the minds of the anxiety-stricken fan who may have chewed off the last strands of nail on the finger.
Just how often had one seen not a boundary be hit on the final delivery of a run chase but instead run all the three that were needed?
Given his superior standards of fitness and the inimitable self belief, if there was one batsman who could’ve got the job done for Punjab, then it was always going to be Sikandar Raza.
That he hit a brilliant stroke towards the fine leg fence, running all three runs albeit with one hand almost off the bat was the real tick of glory.
Though, it wasn’t the only time that Raza almost had a hand off his cricket bat; that tense dot ball with Dhoni going down on his knees to collect it saw Sikandar Raza awkwardly out of his comfort zone.
But just when needed, he gave it everything.
In the context of the match, even the unbeaten thirteen was a huge winning achievement, this being IPL’s contest number #999.
But in terms of his overall campaign, Sikandar Raza reverted wonderfully to the faith of those who’ve believed in him.
With scores of 36 and 56, both of which came against the Lucknow SuperGiants, Raza has already indicated that he’s got some smattering stuff to offer from the bat.
As the tournament becomes just as tense with each passing day with the top four slots still up for grabs, he’ll think no other way but to continue playing like the meaning of his name.
The Sikandar that he is, the master of his own destiny!
 "Dev Tyagi")