Zimbabwe team visits Gaddafi Stadium for practice

PCB COO says this tour will give other international teams the confidence to visit Pakistan


Sports Desk May 18, 2015
Zimbabwe cricket team arrives at the Allama Iqbal International airport, Lahore early on Tuesday. PHOTO: PCB

LAHORE: Zimbabwe cricket team left their hotel to practice in the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore under strict security, Express News reported.

The traffic was suspended on the road which leads from the hotel to the stadium.

Earlier in the morning, the Zimbabwe team became the first full international cricket team to visit Pakistan for a bilateral cricket series in six years after players arrived at the Lahore airport early on Tuesday morning.

Subhan Ahmed, the chief operating officer of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said that this tour will set a precedent and give other (international cricket) teams the confidence to visit Pakistan.


PHOTO: PCB

"We are thankful to Zimbabwe Cricket for taking this leap of faith, and trusting us," Ahmed said, adding that the PCB had been trying for a while to get international teams to visit Pakistan, with Bangladesh coming close in 2012.

The PCB COO said that they will provide Zimbabwe cricketers opportunities which they were not getting right now.

The Zimbabwe players then boarded a special bus which drove them to their hotel.


PHOTO: PCB

There were doubts whether the five-match tour would go ahead after the massacre of 45 Shias in an attack on a bus in Karachi last week.

However, Zimbabwe arrived at the Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore early on Tuesday where they are scheduled to play two Twenty20 and three one-day internationals amid massive security at the Gaddafi Stadium.

Views on the tour are mixed with Sri Lanka-born Zimbabwe coach Dav Whatmore upbeat.

"I appreciate the significance of this tour to Pakistan and I am happy to go," he told Zimbabwe radio.

https://twitter.com/dfwhatmore/status/599832648870010880

Meanwhile, Pakistan-born batsman Sikandar Raza Bakht took to Twitter to express his enthusiasm for the series.

https://twitter.com/SRazaB24/status/599970831222120448

All-rounder Sean Williams seemed a bit more concerned about the series, while Batsman Brendan Taylor wished his teammates best of luck for the tour.

https://twitter.com/sean14williams/status/599959457817321473

https://twitter.com/BrendanTaylor86/status/600014652777562112

Another batsman, Chamu Justice prayed for peace and safety.

https://twitter.com/chamulaw/status/599973317890744322

Zimbabwe Cricket Union's official account also tweeted pictures of the Pakistani community in Zimbabwe who gave the visitors a sendoff in order to show their solidarity with Pakistani fans.

https://twitter.com/ZimCricketv/status/600210599470047232

Zimbabwe have left Harare for a high-stakes tour of Pakistan, national cricket association spokesman Lovemore Banda said Monday.

"The team has left (Harare)," Banda told AFP. "They are going (to Pakistan) via Dubai."

Since the attack on the Sri Lankans, Pakistan have staged 'home' matches in the United Arab Emirates.

(Additional input from AFP) 

COMMENTS (29)

mazhar | 9 years ago | Reply thanks Zimbabwe, Allah will take care of you. What happened, happened in past where Pakistani brave policemen gave lives to protect Sri Lankan Players. Zim we all with you.
mazhar | 9 years ago | Reply Guys, please stop fighting and enjoy Pak & Zim series. Thanks Zim
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