Pakistan agrees for short Zimbabwe tour

Three twenty20 worldwide and three one-day global matches will be played during the fortnight.

The teams were initially set to play the series between August 17 and September 7, but that plan was “unanimously” put on hold, presumably over Pakistan’s unwillingness to jeopardise their qualification for the 2017 Champions Trophy.

The tour will begin with Twenty20s in between September 26-30 before both teams compete in three ODIs in early October.

There are however, still question marks remaining over the proposed tri-series involving the two teams and West Indies. “The management of our respective boards will now continue to fine-tune the tour schedule”, said Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) chairman Wilson Manase.

The tour also comes after Pakistan hosted Zimbabwe in May and June, the first visit to the militancy-hit South Asian country by a Test-playing team in six years.

After the recent win over Sri Lanka, Pakistan rose in the ODI ranking to eighth position with 90 points, while West Indies are ninth with 88 points.

Manase claimed that the Pakistan will come to Zimbabwe for a tour next month as decided when Zimbabwe traveled to Pakistan in May, the Dawn reported.