Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza emphasized the necessity for senior players to stand up and pointed out the team's deficiencies, especially in fielding after the defeat in the third T20I against India on Wednesday (July 10). Raza was certain that their performances could not be justified and insisted that they have to get better in order to be competitive in the series. India are leading the five-match series by 2-1.

India beat Zimbabwe by 23 runs in the third T20I at Harare Sports Club, Harare. A breezy knock from Yashasvi Jaiswal, a solid fifty from Shubman Gill and a 49-run blitz from Gaikwad helped India post 182 on the board. In reply, Dion Myers smacked 65 off just 49 balls and gave a scare to India but Washington Sundar's economical bowling aided India topple Zimbabwe.

During the post-match presentation, Raza gave a reflection on his team's performance and stressed the necessity for everyone to accept responsibility, including himself. "I think it's fielding again. We are proud of our fielding, but the wheels came off today. We gave away 20 extra runs, and we lost by 23 runs. We still have problems at the top, but I have the utmost faith in them that they will come in good time. We have tried 15 different partners (openers) in the last year and a half or so," Raza said.

"There is a lot of cricket going on in the country and club cricket has revived. It's time that our players, including myself, take up the responsibility. The youngsters making mistakes is acceptable, but the senior players need to step up. You cannot fix a problem by creating another problem. We have picked 3 openers for a reason. The openers that have been picked up should be given a run. (On Muzarabani) He has been outstanding. Sometimes the rewards don't come, but in the long run the rewards do come," he added.