Pakistan prepare for Zimbabwe battle with one eye on the future

Sport360 staff 09:55 27/09/2015
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  • Waqar Younis believes his team are fresh ahead of upcoming series.

    Pakistan begin a whistle-stop tour of Zimbabwe with a view to preparing for greater challenges that lie ahead in the coming months.

    The two sides will engage in two Twenty20 internationals, starting today, and three one-day internationals in the space of nine days at Harare Sports Club, in what Pakistan coach Waqar Younis termed a “payback tour” after Zimbabwe became the first team to travel to Pakistan in six years this May.

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    While Younis remains wary of Zimbabwe’s abilities in their home conditions, he also admitted that Pakistan have one eye on what is to follow.

    “We’ve got a very big tour coming up straight after this against England, so this is kind of a preparation,” he said yesterday.

    “We had a couple of months layoff before this which we needed after a long tour to Sri Lanka, but I think the boys are fresh and we want to make the most of it.”

    Pakistan have included uncapped players Imran Khan jnr, Aamer Yamin and Bilal Asif in their squad for the Twenty20 matches, which take place today and Tuesday.

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    With the World Twenty20 coming up next March, Waqar hinted that new players would receive an opportunity to showcase their skills on the international stage ahead of the 2016 showpiece in India.

    “Every team is looking to that World T20, and that’s what we’re trying to do as well,” he said. “That’s why we’re bringing youngsters in to have a look at them and see what our best team can be.

    Pakistan were originally expected in Zimbabwe last month, and the delay in their arrival allowed the hosts some time off after back-to-back visits by India and New Zealand. Zimbabwe spent some of it at a team building camp on a game reserve near Gweru.

    Zimbabwe endured a difficult first half of the year, winning just one of 12 ODIs and also making headlines for the wrong reasons with veteran bowler Prosper Utseya accusing Zimbabwe Cricket managing director Alistair Campbell of racism in a letter to the board.

    “I thought we managed to iron out things that were hanging a bit in our team,” said captain Elton Chigumbura. “It’s a process, and we’re going to try and implement what we got from Gweru, from the psychologist, and hopefully we can build from there.”

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