Pakistan women tour of Zimbabwe ends under bizarre circumstances
Pakistan women tour of Zimbabwe has been called-off after just one match post Emirates Airlines decided to suspend its flight operations on the Harare-Dubai route between February 13 - 28.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) have mutually agreed to end this tour with immediate effect. Pakistan women's team will fly home tomorrow after having won the first ODI. They were initially supposed to leave home after completing the ODI and T20I series on February 21.
It has been a difficult decision considering Zimbabwe Cricket had put in place excellent arrangements for the series. But the decision by the Emirates Airlines to suspend all flights to and from Harare from 13 February to 28 February has meant that we have to bring the squad back in the next 24 hours," said PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan.
PCB Chief Executive Wasim Khan was pleased and thanked Zimbabwe Cricket for their support. He expressed himself by saying:
“We thank Zimbabwe Cricket for their understanding and support, and hope to return at some stage to complete this additional tour.”
The new restrictions imposed by Emirates Airlines have not only affected this tour but might also affect the Zimbabwe v Afghanistan series which will start on March 1 at the UAE.
The Zimbabwe men's team were scheduled to leave for the UAE on February 19. The series is expected to either get postponed or canceled as flights are suspended until the end of February.
Pakistan men's cricket team will tour Zimbabwe in April for two Tests and three T20I matches. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) will monitor the situation of flights and COVID-19 before taking a final call on the series.