Zimbabwe to tour Pakistan from May 24

Pakistan and Zimbabwe Cricket Boards today confirmed that the African nation will tour Lahore from May 19 to play five limited-over matches in the first tour to Pakistan by a Test playing nation since 2009.
No Test playing nation has toured Pakistan since militants attacked the Sri Lankan team in Lahore in March 2009, killing six Pakistani policemen and a van driver and injuring some members of the visiting side.
Although no details of the MoU signed between the two Boards were revealed, PCB sources confirmed that Zimbabwe had agreed to the tour after the home Board confirmed it would pay daily allowances, match fees and other expenses of the visiting team besides a tour fee to the ZCU.

The five-match limited-over series includes two T20Is and three ODIs. The tour will start with the two T20 matches at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on May 24 and 26, followed by ODI matches on May 29 and 31 and June 1.
PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan said the ZCU had informed the ICC about its intent to tour Pakistan and their security delegation would also visit Lahore from May 4 to review security arrangements for the touring side.
"I am grateful to my counterpart in Zimbabwe Cricket, Wilson Manase, for acceding to our request of sending a full side on a tour to Pakistan. This would be an auspicious moment for Pakistan cricket and I am positive that it would open doors of international cricket in Pakistan," Khan said.

"Kenya have already been here for five matches against Pakistan A and I am indeed confident that Zimbabwe's incident-free tour shall be the harbinger of more and more associate and full member nations visiting us in the months and years to come," he said.

He said the security delegation from Zimbabwe has a mandate to review the security arrangements put in place by the PCB with the full backing and support of Punjab government and various provincial and federal law enforcement agencies.
He also said the PCB had tried to convince Cricket Zimbabwe to split the matches between Lahore and Karachi but the visiting team expressed concern on extensive travelling, and their request had to be accommodated.

"We are touring Pakistan as a measure of establishing bilateral relations between us and them. They will also come to Zimbabwe in August," Alistair Campbell, Zimbabwe Cricket's managing director (cricket), said in a statement from Harare.