The team will tour Zimbabwe to reciprocate their visit to Pakistan, which helped Pakistan host their first international series in the country in six years. PHOTO COURTESY: NEWS TRIBE
The visit which was previously planned for August 17 till September 7 got deferred by 'mutual agreement', presumably because Pakistan did not want to risk their chances of qualification for the 2017 Champions Trophy.
Read: Pakistan, Zimbabwe postpone limited over series
According to current schedule, the series will commence with T20 matches, the first one schedule on September 26 followed by the ODIs in the first week of October. As the tour is being conducted beyond the cut-off of the Champions Trophy, its result will not have any impact on Pakistan’s position for that tournament.
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.
"We have dealt with the tour outline with my PCB counterpart Shahryar Khan. The management of our respective boards will now continue to fine-tune the tour schedule," Manase said, before adding that their board was also trying to arrange a home series against West Indies given the time now available in August.
Initially, Pakistan had agreed to play a limited-overs series with Zimbabwe in August as that was the only empty slot that they had. This was scheduled so Pakistan could return in kind Zimbabwe’s tour of Pakistan in May, which helped Pakistan host their first international series in the country in six years.
Read: #Cricketcomeshome: When Pakistan cricket was not so alone
The confusion regarding Pakistan's tour of Zimbabwe arose when Zimbabwe cricket floated an idea of a tri-nation series involving West Indies. However, the Pakistan Cricket Board was reluctant to participate in any play that could possibly jeopardize their qualification for the Champions Trophy. Due to this, Zimbabwe suggested pushing the ODIs to October, a proposition which was immediately accepted by PCB.
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