LAHORE - Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan has said that Zimbabwe will visit Pakistan from mid-May for a one-week tour.
Talking to the reporters here on Monday, Shaharyar said: “Zimbabwe will tour Pakistan to play a short limited-over series next month, becoming the first Test team to visit Pakistan in six years.”
He said his Zimbabwean counterpart had assured him that Zimbabwe would tour Pakistan in mid-May. Both officials had met on the sidelines of the recent International Cricket Council (ICC) meetings.
“The Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) president told us that the team will come to Pakistan but before that, their security team will pay the country a visit. Their board will confirm their tour once their security team gives the go ahead.”
Shaharyar said Zimbabwe would be provided with top-level security during the tour. “It is likely the visting team will stay here at the National Cricket Academy (NCA), a few metres away from the Gaddafi Stadium, and play all the matches at one venue.”
The PCB chief further revealed that while Najam Sethi’s appointment as the next ICC president is inevitable, the post would be given to an iconic cricketer once Sethi completes his tenure. Shaharyar said that he had urged the ICC to work on recommendations of its taskforce, headed by Giles Clarke, for the revival of international cricket in Pakistan.
Shaharyar said an Australian army team would visit Pakistan from next week, helping to open the doors to international cricket, and a women's team from Bangladesh next month. The PCB is also in talks with the Netherlands, Ireland and Nepal to send their national teams in the near future.
PCB Chief Operating Officer (CCO) Subhan Ahmed said that if the ICC did not agree to send officials then umpires from Pakistan and Zimbabwe would step in. "We have a special dispensation from them to appoint Pakistani and Zimbabwean umpires and the matches will be of international status," said Ahmed.