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T20 World Cup: Meet the players whose careers changed when they switched nationalities

Whichever jersey they don, these individuals add uniqueness and charm to their sport

Published: Sat 29 Oct 2022, 6:46 AM

  • By
  • Leslie Wilson Jr

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Photos: AFP

Photos: AFP

It is natural to link stars to the country that they represent but many of them have a different place of birth that you may not have known.

Whichever jersey they don, these individuals add uniqueness and charm to their sport and the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup in Australia illustrates a classic example of this.

Here are four players who represent a country other than where they were born.

Sikandar Raza (born in Pakistan) plays for Zimbabwe

Born in Sialkot, Pakistan, Sikander Raza’s family immigrated to Zimbabwe in 2002. Cricket-loving Raza soon emerged as one of the top batsmen in the domestic competition and, after becoming a naturalized citizen in 2011, he made his T20 debut in 2013 at the age of 36, against Bangladesh.

Since then, Raza, who had dreamt of being a fighter pilot in Pakistan, has scored over 1,000 runs and hit six half-centuries and become a match-winner for his adopted country,

And on Thursday, the all-rounder delivered a huge effort as Zimbabwe scored a shock one-run victory off the last ball, over his native Pakistan at Perth. Raza bagged three wickets in a spell that earned him the Player of the Match award.

Ben Stokes (born in New Zealand) plays for England

The England Test skipper was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, before he moved to England as a 12-year-old.

He is the son of rugby league player and coach of the late Gerard Stokes, while his mother is English. His parents moved back to New Zealand when he was 15 but he stayed back in England, which has become his adopted country.

Growing up, Stokes developed into a talented cricketer and made his T20 International debut in 2011 at The Oval against the West Indies.

He has played in two matches at this year’s T20 World Cup where England defeated Afghanistan by five wickets but suffered a shock five-run defeat to Ireland.

David Wiese (born in South Africa) plays for Namibia

David Wiese also played for South Africa from 2013 to 2016, before making his international debut for Namibia in October 2021. Wiese became eligible to represent Namibia because his father was born in the country.

He also played in the IPL in 2015-2016, where he represented Royal Challengers Bangalore.

A big-hitting lower-order batsman, Wiese hit 55 of just 36 balls in his team’s defeat against the UAE on October 20 in a Group stage encounter.

That defeat knocked Namibia out of the competition.

Devon Conway (South Africa) plays for New Zealand

Devon Conway started his career in South Africa where he played in domestic cricket from August 2015. However, when he was 26, he immigrated to New Zealand to seek greener pastures.

He earned his New Zealand cap In March 2020 after the International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed his eligibility in August 2020.

A former domestic player of the year in 2020, Conway made an impressive start at the T20 World Cup when he took on the might of the Australian attack in the opening match of the tournament and scored a match-winning unbeaten 92 off 58 deliveries.

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