Zimbabwe cricket team arrives in Pakistan

Zimbabwean cricket players arrived in Pakistan today after more than five years as they were welcomed by the Pakistan Cricket Board officials welcomed them at Islamabad Airport.

Also read: PCB invited England team to play T20s in Pakistan

The team will spend its first week October 21-27 in quarantine in Islamabad.

As per the official schedule the team will play three T20s and three one-day internationals in the country.

The first one-day will be held on October 30, second on November 1 and third on November 3. All of the one-days will be played in Rawalpindi.

Pakistan have not played ODIs since the home series against Sri Lanka 12 months ago and the Rawalpindi matches will be part of ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League from which the seven top-ranked sides, apart from hosts India, will qualify directly for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, said the PCB’s official press release.

The Zimbabwe team will then travel to Lahore where they will play the first T20 on November 7, second on November 8 and play the third on November 10.

Pakistan’s squad for the matches includes: Babar Azam, Haider Ali, Abdullah Shafiq, Imamul Haq, Haris Sohail, Abid Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Rizwan, Iftikhar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Imad Wasim, Rohail Nazir, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Haris Rauf, Musa Khan, Wahab Riaz, Usman Qadir, Zafar Gohar.

Meanwhile, Shadab Khan has been appointed as the vice captain of the side.

PCB selectors have rested Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Amir while giving opportunity to youngsters like Abdullah Shafiq and Usman Qadir along with youngsters Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Musa Khan and Zafar Gohar.

Chief Selector Misbah-ul-Haq announced the squad for the series on Monday earlier this week.

Fans were visibly perturbed over the PCB’s failure to select Zahid Mehmood, a spinner from Dadu, Sindh for the series.