Sikandar Raza will join the Zimbabwe squad for this month’s Trent Bridge Test match against England even as PSL 2025 is set to resume on May 17.
Raza had been playing for the Lahore Qalandars in PSL 2025. From nine games this season, he has scored 228 runs at 45.60 and a strike rate of 163 along with eight wickets at 15.10 and an economy rate of 7.10. For LQ, he tops both averages charts as well as the tables for economy rate and, with a 100-run cut-off, strike rates. He was easily their most valuable cricketer.
All that, however, was until the escalating tension between India and Pakistan forced the PSL to be indefinitely postponed. The league will resume on May 17. Now fourth in the points table, LQ have one league game left, against Peshawar Zalmi at Rawalpindi on May 18. The playoffs will be played on May 21, 22, 23, and 25. If LQ qualify for the final, Raza would have to stay back until May 25.
Read: Revised PSL 2025 schedule – updated match list, timings, and venues
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe have included him for the one-off Test match at Trent Bridge – the first between the two teams since 2004 – which will begin on May 22. In other words, the two would have clashed.
Read: PSL 2025 overseas player availability tracker, live updates – who will return on resumption?
Sikandar Raza: Not missing England Test
Raza made his choice clear in a post on X. “I’ve been tagged and mentioned regarding my availability for PSL and the Historic Test match in England,” he wrote. “National duty is the top priority for me and once picked I will honor and fulfill it. All the reports of me missing the test match are not true at all. Regarding PSL, all the reports of me not returning to Pakistan are also not true.”
Read: Retired England and Zimbabwe batter appointed to touring coaching staff for one-off Test
Raza’s post suggests that given that he has been selected, he will play the Test match. The double negative in the next sentence (“Regarding PSL, all the reports of me not returning to Pakistan are also not true”) is open to interpretation. He might have assured of a return to the league in future, or simply to the country of his birth.
Raza last played a Test match against Afghanistan at Bulawayo earlier this year. From 18 Tests, he has 1,286 runs at 36.74 and 38 wickets at 40.78.
