KARACHI: Pakistan’s Twenty20 and One-day Internationals squads for the forthcoming home series against Zimbabwe will be named on Tuesday, chief selector Haroon Rasheed said on Saturday.

“We are going through the selection process. After approval from PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan, the ODI and T20 squads for the Zimbabwe series will be announced on Tuesday,” Haroon said, adding both the squads would consist of 15 members each.

The chief selector reckoned it would be a great occasion for the players, fans and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) that international cricket would be returning to Pakistan after more than six years.

“Hopefully, our players will be fully charged up to produce their best in front of their home crowd after a long gap,” the former Test cricketer stated.

Declaring that all the players were under consideration for the Zimbabwe series, Haroon underlined that consistency would be an important factor in the team selection.

“We cannot pick the players on one-off performance. They must be consistent to earn their selection in the national team,” he emphasised. “We are looking to form a pool of players for the national team with an eye on future.”

Commenting on the Zimbabwe series, Haroon said the tourists who were a fighting bunch of players could not be taken lightly.

“Pakistan will enjoy edge in the ODI series but Twenty20s are a different ball game altogether.”

On Saturday, tickets went on sale for next week’s limited-overs series against Zimbabwe, days after a major terror attack put the visit — the first by a Test playing nation in six years — in doubt.

Series tickets go on sale

Zimbabwe confirmed on Friday that it will go ahead with the tour, including two Twenty20s and three ODIs — all to be staged at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium — despite an attack on a Karachi bus on Wednesday that left 45 people dead.

Cricket authorities in the African nation had released a statement on Thursday saying the tour would not go ahead due to the “security risk”, but quickly apologised.

Late on Friday, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) general manager media Agha Akbar told The Associated Press that Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) has confirmed the tour “in writing” to the PCB.

Earlier on Friday, PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan said his Zimbabwean counterpart William Manase had told him via telephone that Zimbabwe was “still willing and ready to send their team to Pakistan”.

LAHORE: A worker cleans an enclosure at the Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday as international cricket returns to Pakistan next week with the series against Zimbabwe.—AP

The tour is the first by a Test-playing team since 2009, when a bus carrying the Sri Lankan team was attacked by terrorists in Lahore.

That attack, which killed eight people and injured seven visiting players, resulted in the suspension of all international cricket in Pakistan.

Fans queued at various spots in Lahore in delight at the prospect of watching international matches at home.

“This is exciting,” said Ishan Raza, waving his ticket for the first Twenty20 on May 22. “I have been waiting for this day for sometime now and will try to watch as many matches as possible,” Raza said.

The colourful tickets, which the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said range in price from Rs150 ($1.50) to Rs1,500 ($15.00), include the message “igniting a passion which brings a nation together”.

The second Twenty20 will be played on May 24 followed by three ODIs on May 26, 29, and 31.

Meanwhile, hundreds of policemen featured in a dress rehearsal to provide security for a planned visit by Zimbabwe’s team.

Two blue-coloured team buses were shown surrounded by at least a dozen police vans in television footage from the Allama Iqbal International Airport where Zimbabwe is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday.

Dozens of police officials monitored security arrangements at the 27,000-seat Gaddafi Stadium.

Two helipads — one close to Gaddafi Stadium and another near the team hotel — will also be built in case of emergency. A special surveillance centre has been established near the stadium to monitor security arrangements.

Director of operations Haider Ashraf said high-level security arrangements will be in place for the touring team.

“All the routes from hotel to the stadium will be closed as the team passes and we will leave nothing to chance,” Ashraf told reporters.

Pakistan has also boosted the number of policeman providing security to the team from 3,000 to 6,000 after Zimbabwe Cricket’s concerns over the Karachi attack.

Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2015

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