Cricket-starved Pakistani fans may finally get a reprieve as talks for a possible tour by Zimbabwe entered its final phase, Pakistan Cricket Board's (PCB) director media Amjad Hussain said on Wednesday.
Officials from the PCB and Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) met during the World Cup with the African side expressing an interest in touring Pakistan later this year.
“I have met with the chief executive of the Zimbabwe cricket union and we discussed the revival of international cricket in Pakistan. He told me they were interested in a reciprocal series with Zimbabwe wanting to send a team in May,” team manager Naved Akram Cheema told reporters in Adelaide in March.
It seems now that a tour is very much on and an agreement is likely to be inked at the International Cricket Council (ICC) meeting in Dubai next week.
According to Hussain, a three-match ODI series and two T20s have been proposed but the duration of the tour will be finalised when PCB chairman Shahryar Khan meets his Zimbabwe counterpart.
The Future Tours Programme (FTP) is no more a central agreement between the ICC and its members. From this year onward, bilateral agreements between member nations and boards will decide on future tours.
Since the deadly attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in 2009, only non-Test-playing Kenya and Associates Afghanistan have visited Pakistan.
Pakistan and Zimbabwe last faced off in Zimbabwe two years ago with the with coach Dav Whatmore at the helm.
Whatmore has now taken that position with Zimbabwe and it is being speculated that the 61-year-old may have played a role in convincing ZC about the security situation in Pakistan.
Re: Agreement on Zimbabwe's tour to Pakistan in final stage: PCB
Honestly I don't think it's the right time for this. Yes it is good news but we are undertaking a huge risk. Pakistan is in a state of war.
Even if these teams come to Pakistan, there are gonna be escorted by military commandos at all times and their movement will be extremely restricted. That's not a good or comfortable environment to be playing cricket in.
And god forbid even if there is an attempt of an attack on a team..that will end the chances of an international team coming to Pakistan for a long, long time.
A good news for cricket fan.