Zimpapers Logo

Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporter

PAKISTAN batting coach Younis Khan believes their tour of Zimbabwe will present an opportunity for youngsters in the squad to make a name for themselves ahead of the T20 World Cup.

The 2021 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is scheduled to be played in October and November in India.

Originally, the tournament was to be held in Australia from October 18 to November 15, 2020.

Khan said the Zimbabwe series will help his side find the right batting combinations ahead of the global showpiece.

“It’s a young team, players are settling, and they aren’t clear about their (batting positions) yet, but they will be going forward. We have the Zimbabwe series now, and it’s a good chance for the youngsters to go out and play the role that is being worked out for them, and in which we want to see them grow, because we have some very tough cricket coming up, with the T20 World Cup in India.

“The top order is vital, but the lower order is equally important, which is where we are lagging behind, and we have to address this to get to the top,” said Khan in part of his review of the South Africa series.

Pakistan beat South Africa 2-1 in the ODI series and 3-1 in the T20 series.

Babar Azam and Fakhar Zaman were in top form in the tour of South Africa and will be hoping to carry their fine run into the Zimbabwe series.

The T20 series between Zimbabwe and Pakistan is scheduled to start this Wednesday and will be played behind closed doors at Harare Sports Club.

The second game will be on Friday and the final match has been set for Sunday.

The Zimbabwe team began its training camp in Harare at the weekend.

Zimbabwe T20I Squad

Ryan Burl, Regis Chakabva, Tanaka Chivanga, Craig Ervine, Luke Jongwe, Tinashe Kamunhukamwe, Wesley Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Tapiwa Mufudza, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Brendan Taylor, Donald Tiripano, Sean Williams (captain)

Pakistan T20I Squad

Babar Azam (Capt), Sharjeel Khan, Asif Ali,Haider Ali, Muhammad Hafeez, Danish Aziz, Faheem Ashraf, Muhammad Nawaz, Muhammad Wasim jr, Muhammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Arshad Iqbal, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Muhammad Hasnain, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Qadir,  Zahid Mahmood

-@innocentskizoe