HARARE: Zimbabwe’s cricket team tour of Pakistan is set to proceed as scheduled over the weekend, The Herald revealed.
On May 12, Zimbabwe had announced their 16-men squad for Pakistan
tour at Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore. However, the events took a dramatic
turn when news emerged that Zimbabwe have decided to suspend their tour
on their sports regulatory body’s advice, deeming the tour unsafe. The
recent surge in violence on May 13 in Karachi, which left around 45
people dead, seemed to have influenced their decision.
“Pakistan authorities had provided fresh and concrete guarantees that
the Zimbabwe cricket team will be safe in their country and the tour
was back on the radar as originally scheduled,” the newspaper confirmed.
According to sources, Pakistan has assured that the mountains will be
moved to ensure that the Zimbabwe team is safe. “Any assurances that
have been received suggested that the tour is off were premature,” The Herald added.
With regards to the Safora carnage, the newspaper was told that there
were concerns after the incident but there was no reason to suggest
that the team’s security will be compromised.
“The high level security operation that has been put in Lahore by
Pakistan cannot be doubted and that’s why the team is going,” it added.
Pakistan is expected to spend about $1 million on the team’s security during the upcoming tour.
Earlier, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was busy making breakneck attempts to save Zimbabwe’s upcoming tour of Pakistan.
However, when almost all resigned to the fact that international
cricket will remain suspended in Pakistan, another development took
place just 15 minutes later when Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) said that talks
are still going on and a final decision is yet to be taken.
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