The cricket starved fans of Pakistan have finally received the good news they have been waiting six years to hear as Zimbabwe officially confirmed their one-day series tour in May.
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The five-match limited-overs series will consist of two T20Is and three ODIs, beginning on May 19.
Zimbabwe will become the first ICC full-member nation to visit Pakistan since the 2009 terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore.
“I am grateful to my counterpart in Cricket Zimbabwe, Wilson Manase, for acceding to our request of sending a full side on a tour to Pakistan. This would be an auspicious moment for Pakistan cricket and I am positive that it would open doors of international cricket in Pakistan,” PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan said on the development.
“Kenya have already been here for five matches against Pakistan ‘A’ and I am indeed confident that Zimbabwe’s incident-free tour shall be the harbinger of more and more associate and full member nations visiting us in the months and years to come.”
Cricket Zimbabwe’s security team will accompany the team in Lahore – the venue for each of the five games being the Gaddafi Stadium – with a mandate to review the security arrangements put in place by the PCB with the full backing and support of the Punjab government and various provincial and federal law enforcement agencies.
LISTEN to the full audio recording of today’s Press Conference on the @TheRealPCB tour https://t.co/ILQyHcONjD
— Zimbabwe Cricket (@ZimCricketv) April 30, 2015
“We vigorously tried to convince Cricket Zimbabwe to split the matches between Lahore and Karachi but the visiting team’s members expressed concern on extensive travelling, and their request had to be accommodated”, said a PCB spokesman.
Meanwhile, Chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket Wilson Manase stated: “I can confirm that Zimbabwe will visit Pakistan in May. We had a duty to ensure the parents of the players, the players and government are on board before announcing the tour. We have taken cognizance of all the factors for us to arrive at this decision, so let’s not be alarmist about the situation in Pakistan.”
Cricket Zimbabwe CEO Alistair Campbell added: “We are touring Pakistan as a measure of establishing bilateral relations between us and them; they [Pakistan] will also come to Zimbabwe in August.”
Campbell also added that coach Dav Whatmore has signed a new agreed a new four-year deal with Zimbabwe.
Full tour itinerary:
May 19: Team Zimbabwe arrive
May 22: First T20I
May 24: Second T20I
May 26: First ODI
May 29: Second ODI
May 31: Third ODI
June 01: Team Zimbabwe departs
