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The 17th match of IPL 2024 will be played between Gujarat Titans and Punjab Kings on Thursday. It seems that the Punjab Kings team has gone off the track a bit. The team started the season with a win against Delhi Capitals. But then there were defeats against RCB and Lucknow Supergiants. There is no stability in the batting and bowling order of Punjab team. But in-form Zimbabwe star Sikandar Raza did not give him a chance.
Raza also took a hat-trick in T20 International recently. Apart from this, his record in this format is excellent. But till now he has had to sit on the bench. Even in the last season, Raza had played only 7 matches and his place could not be confirmed. At the same time, he is still waiting for the first match of this season.
When will Shikhar Dhawan give a chance?
In fact, the rule of playing four foreign players has become a villain for Sikandar Raza. Punjab has star players like Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran and Kagiso Rabada. Due to which Raza's place is not being made. But if we leave out Bairstow's innings in the last match, he was not in good form. Whereas Raza can also play as an opener. He is also a middle-order batsman and can finish. Along with all these things, he is also a good spin bowler. Punjab needs victory against Gujarat at any cost. Captain Dhawan can give him a chance in this match.
A look at Sikandar Raza's statistics
Sikandar Raza played just seven matches for Punjab Kings last season but he proved to be a vital cog. He also led the team to victory in one or two matches. Raza scored 139 runs in 7 matches with one half-century and also took three wickets. 57 was his best score. But Raza's figures in international cricket are excellent. He scored 1854 runs in 77 innings of 81 T20 Internationals for Zimbabwe. Apart from this, he also has 58 wickets in his name. He also plays in other T20 leagues around the world and his overall T20 statistics are tremendous. Raza has scored 4625 runs in 225 T20 matches and has also taken 133 wickets.