T20 World Cup | The next game becomes the most important one: Zimbabwe’s Raza ahead of Ireland match

Zimbabwe has been the talk of the town this T20 World Cup. Victory over Australia in Group B leaves the side with a realistic shot at achieving its maiden Super Eight appearance. A win over Ireland in its penultimate group game will help the side take a further step towards qualification.

Captain Sikandar Raza, however, says the team is solely focused on taking it one game at a time.

“It’s a lovely position to be in. But the next game becomes the most important one. Fine, the world is talking about Zimbabwe. But let them do all the talking for us. Those victories that we have had so far will count for nothing, especially if there is a slip-up now,” the skipper said.

Zimbabwe’s success has been built on the performances of its pace-bowling attack, featuring Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava and Brad Evans. Raza said that finding the perfect combination and sticking with it over nine months has been key to the team’s success.

“They have been good for a long time — Blessing, Ngarava, Brad, even (Tinotenda) Maposa when he’s given the opportunity. It’s nice how they’re going about their job, and I’m hoping that they will have more success as the tournament goes on,” the captain said.

Ireland’s Mark Adair also heaped praise on the Zimbabwe pace unit ahead of their game on Tuesday. “They’re probably as good a bowling line-up as you’ll find in this competition. It’s definitely a challenge for our batters, but it’s something that we’re looking forward to,” the all-rounder said.