Zimbabwe's tour to UAE to play Pakistan called off

Zimbabwean players celebrate after their Test win over Pakistan last year

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have announced that they will not be hosting Zimbabwe for a bilateral series, which was scheduled at the end of this year, due to a lack of funds.

Zimbabwe were slated for tours to Bangladesh and Pakistan at the end of the year as per the Future Tours Programme (FTP) of the International Cricket Council (ICC), but due to some financial issues, Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) will not be able to go on both tours. As a result, the tour to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to face Pakistan has been cancelled.

Zimbabwe coach Andy Waller said: “We are trying our best to give the team more cricket but unfortunately some of the series have had to be rescheduled. Pakistan will not be able to host us in Dubai as per schedule possibly due to financial challenges. That means we will have a gap again towards the end of the year. But we will play Bangladesh and that has been moved to December when we will play three Tests.”

Zimbabwe’s last Test series was against Pakistan last year, where they surprisingly emerged victorious in a Test to draw the two-match series 1-1. But the financial issues of ZC mean that the team will once again be deprived of facing strong opponents in Pakistan.

The cancellation of the Pakistan series means that Zimbabwe will have to reconcile themselves with just a tour to Bangladesh, wherein they are scheduled to play a few limited-overs matches in addition to three Tests.

The Zimbabweans are, at the moment, diligently preparing for a One-Day International series at home against the tenacious Afghanistan side, which is scheduled for next month. All the 4 ODI matches are due to be played at Bulawayo, after which the team will have to brace themselves for the South African challenge.

“We are looking at playing our strongest side against Afghanistan; what is important is for the team to play lots of cricket. Our goal is to make sure we play more cricket than we have been doing no matter the opposition. We want to particularly look at the combinations in the bowling department and we may look at a few younger players who have been putting their hands up,” Waller said.

Zimbabwe have had a very long international break, with the World T20 being their only international cricket over the last few months, and the coach is fully aware of the difficulties arising from such a dormant calendar.

“It’s a big challenge; we would have wanted to play more cricket in between the last Test and South Africa, but we are going to work hard and make the best out of the training programme. We are playing two of the best sides in the world and we will aim to compete and if we can win one or two matches in the triangular series, then that would be a good achievement,” he added.