THE Pakistan national cricket team arrived in Bulawayo on Wednesday evening for a white ball tour of Zimbabwe that begins on Sunday at Queens Sports Club.
They are fresh from a series with Australia and are in Bulawayo for the first in six years having last played there in July 2018.
The tourists will hold three training sessions on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The white ball series will kick off with three ODIs on November 24, 26 and 28, followed by the T20Is scheduled for December 1, 3 and 5.
Excitement has started to grow for the series in Bulawayo. Mohammad Rizwan will lead Pakistan in the ODIs while Salman Ali Agha leads in the T20Is.
Pakistan white-ball coach Aaqib Javed’s primary focus during his interim stint will be ODI cricket and the Champions Trophy, and he wants to test the bench strength in the shortest format.
Aaqib, who will serve in the role until the end of the Champions Trophy next year, takes charge of his first assignment — three ODIs and three T20Is starting on Sunday, November 24.
“Our main focus at the moment is on ODI cricket ahead of the Champions Trophy,” Aaqib said. “You’ll see a settled team in this format. You’ll see changes in the T20I format. We plan to give new players chances in the Zimbabwe series.
“It is a message and opportunity to the new players to take the chances they’ve been given. If you don’t give new players chances, you’ll never get the opportunity to improve your bench strength.
“Australia has never been an easy tour. When the team went, if we had said we were going to win the series, people would have thought it impossible.
“Under the new captain (Mohammad Rizwan), they showed the world they could do it after 22 years [by winning 2-1]. They also had chances in the three T20Is, but if you don’t avail your chances, you won’t win.”
Aaqib is aware of the scrutiny and criticism a coaching job entails; indeed, he was a critic of a number of his predecessors, taking particular aim at what he saw as Misbah-ul-Haq’s dual role, when he was the chief selector as well as the head coach.
With Aaqib in an uncomfortably similar position; now, though, he believed the cases could not be directly compared.
“My case is slightly different from the cases you mentioned,” he said.
“I am not the chief selector, but part of a panel. I do not view it as a problem because we all want to select players who do the best for Pakistan.
“Criticism is inevitable and can be healthy. It is within a player’s control whether people praise or criticise him.
“That also goes for the team. Criticism and praise all depends on your performance. I’ll be the first one to accept criticism if merited.”
Zimbabwe have picked three uncapped players — Trevor Gwandu, Tashinga Musekiwa and Tinotenda Maposa in their ODI squad.
While Gwandu and Musekiwa have both played T20I cricket for Zimbabwe, quick bowler Maposa, 21, has played just three List A matches so far, picking up four wickets at an economy rate of 6.29.
Blessing Muzarabani and Richard Ngarava will continue to lead the seam attacks in both ODIs and T20Is.
“The series against Pakistan is an important platform for Zimbabwe, and we believe the ODI squad we have selected is well-rounded,” David Mutendera, Zimbabwe’s convener of selectors, said in a statement.
“The presence of seasoned players like Craig (Ervine), Sikandar (Raza) and Sean (Williams)provides stability, while young players like Clive Madande, Brian Bennett, Dion Myers and the uncapped trio bring energy and the potential for game-changing moments.” — Suburban Reporter/espncricinfo.com
