The Sunday News
AFGHANISTAN’S visiting cricket team is ready to take on Zimbabwe A in their second tour of the country and expect to use the matches to gauge their strength ahead of the 2015 International Cricket Council World Cup. Speaking at a Press briefing at a Bulawayo hotel yesterday evening, the tourists’ coach Mohammed Kabiri Khan said the tour was important approaching the World Cup as few tour playing nations gave associate nations the opportunity to play against them.
“We want to gauge our strength as a team as it is rare to get an opportunity to play against Test nations. We respect Zimbabwe as a team and believe they are a strong side but we will do our best and hope to win some of the matches,” he said.
“We are fully prepared and I am sure the games are going to be competitive.”
The Afghan team manager, Shafi Qullah Stanikazi, said they hoped the tour will be the start of strong relations between the two countries.
“We would like to experience more good relations between the two countries and in the near future we would like to see Zimbabwe coming to play in Afghanistan as we strengthen the relations between the two boards. It is our first tour of a Test playing nation and I think we are going to see more of the matches between the two countries,” said Stanikazi.
The Afghanistan cricket side arrived in Bulawayo on Friday and kick off their tour with two warm-up matches beginning today and another on Tuesday against the Zimbabwe A side at Bulawayo Athletic Club.
The 28-day tour by the Afghans will see them play against the Zimbabwe senior side in four One-Day International matches at Queens Sports Club, also in Bulawayo, on 18, 20, 22 and 24 July.
The tour will then move to Harare where Zimbabwe A will play Afghanistan in two four-day matches at the Country Club, with the first match on 27 July and the second on 2 August.
