The Sunday News
Mehluli Sibanda, Senior Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE Cricket have been granted permission by the Government to send the men’s senior national cricket team to Pakistan next month for a limited overs series.
In a statement sent out on Wednesday, ZC said they got the good news from the Sports and Recreation Commission.
“The Sports and Recreation Commission hereby gives you notice, following your application, that the Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation has approved your request to tour Pakistan to play the referenced matches,” SRC director general Prince Mupazviriho wrote in a letter to ZC.
ZC Chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani has praised the Government for sanctioning the tour, which will see Zimbabwe playing for the first time since March when many countries across the world banned sporting activities and international travel as part of pandemic lockdown measures aimed at containing the spread of Covid-19.
“We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to our Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation, the Honourable Kirsty Coventry, the SRC and the entire Government of Zimbabwe for authorising the tour,” Mukuhlani said.
The ZC boss said there was lots of exhilaration at the organisation as they anticipate returning to the field of play.
“Needless to say, we at ZC are bursting with excitement as we look forward to playing cricket again and representing our nation with pride and passion in Pakistan.”
The SRC has put emphasis the need to ensure Covid-19 preventative and containment measures are observed at all times for the safety of both the players and officials during the tour.
Zimbabwe will face Pakistan in three One-Day Internationals and same number of Twenty20 Internationals. The ODI matches, which will be part of the inaugural ICC Cricket World Cup Super League, are scheduled for 30 October and 1 and 3 November while the dates for the T20I series are 7, 8 and 10 November.
In anticipation of the tour being given the green light, the Chevrons got into camp in Harare on Tuesday with a provisional squad of 25 players. Another player, Blessing Muzarabani is expected to be part of the squad for Pakistan having agreed terms with ZC to make a return to the international cricket scene, two years after he turned his back on representing the country of his birth for a county contract at Northamptonshire on a Kolpal deal.
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