The Sunday News
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE Cricket (ZC) are anxiously waiting for a response from the Government, through Sports and Recreation Commission (SRC) on their request for a go-ahead to send the country’s men team to Pakistan for a limited overs series next month.
Hamilton Masakadza, the ZC director of cricket said they were still waiting for a reply from the SRC on whether they should send the Chevrons to Pakistan. Masakadza said their Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) counterparts did not give them a deadline for confirmation if the team is heading to the Asian country.
“We applied for the tour to Pakistan and are awaiting a response from the SRC. From PCB, we are still expecting documentation relating to Covid-19 protocols and security. So far there are just proposed dates and a proposed itinerary, so there is no deadline for us to confirm. We are pretty sure that the bio-secure bubble will be in place since they are working with the guys from the England and Wales Cricket Board,’’ Masakadza said.
SRC director-general, Prince Mupazviriho recently said they were looking into the application from ZC, with a number of considerations to be made before permission is granted or denied. Some of the issues to ponder over for the SRC are to look at where the team is going, safety of the destination and what transpires when they come back in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.
In anticipation of the tour being approved, the national cricketers resumed training in their respective cities last Monday. Once permission is granted for the trip, the national team players will start training in one place, with only chosen players getting into camp.
“We can’t wait for the green light, we have to start preparing, rather have the players ready, whether we go to Pakistan or not. After we have received confirmation, we will have a camp with the whittled down actual squad,’’ said Masakadza.
Coach Lalchand Rajput is still in India and will only come to Zimbabwe for the camp once ZC get permission to tour Pakistan.
Zimbabwe are scheduled to play three One Day Internationals and same number of Twenty20 Internationals. The ODIs are part of the International Cricket Council Super League, which is the pathway for the 2023 Cricket World Cup qualifying process. – @Mdawini_29
