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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter

ZIMBABWE Cricket have settled for their top guns, including national team captain Craig Ervine, in the strong Zimbabwe Select side to play touring Pakistan Shaheens in a six-match one-day series that begins today at the Harare Sports Club.

The Select side is in every way a reflection of the Chevrons squad that is likely to represent Zimbabwe at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023 to be held on home soil next month.

Most of the players that featured in the 2-1 ODI series win over Ireland at the conclusion of the ICC World Cup Super League two months ago have received the call and Ervine is joined in the side by experienced players such as Sean Williams and Tendai Chatara.

Pacemen Blessing Muzarabani and Richard Ngarava have also been picked alongside spin bowlers Wellington Masakadza and Brandon Mavuta as well as all-rounders Ryan Burl and Wessly Madhevere.

ZC arranged the 50-over series against the Pakistani side to help Zimbabwe fine-tune for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023 that will be staged across four venues in Harare and Bulawayo from June 18 to July 9.

The event will see 10 teams competing for the two remaining places at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in India later in the year.

The local cricket authorities yesterday said in a statement that the composition of the series was key to their preparations for the upcoming Qualifier, which is now only a month away.

Apart from the 14 named to face the Pakistani side, the hosts are also looking to give seven other players a run during the series.

“With the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023 on home soil only a month away, Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) has named a strong Zimbabwe Select side to take on Pakistan Shaheens in six one-day matches at Harare Sports Club,” said the ZC statement.

“All but two players who were part of the Zimbabwe squad that faced the Netherlands in March have been retained for the 50-over series that gets underway today.

“ZC arranged the one-dayers to help Zimbabwe fine-tune for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2023 that will be staged across four venues in Harare and Bulawayo from 18 June to 9 July.

“The event will see 10 teams competing for the two remaining places at the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in India later in the year.”

Zimbabwe have not had international commitments since March when they hosted the Netherlands and these games are expected to give the players the competitive platform to prepare for the Qualifier.

The Chevrons had to be involved in the longer qualifying route again after they failed to book an automatic ticket to the World Cup after finishing second from the bottom of the 13-team Super League table.

They will be joined in the final elimination tournament by the Netherlands, West Indies, Sri Lanka and Netherlands who all failed to get automatic places after finishing outside the cut off zone at the end of the Super League.

Associate nations Nepal, Oman, Scotland, the United Arab Emirates and the United States are also competing for a chance to make it to India.

The Pakistan A side, which recorded a convincing 2-0 win over Zimbabwe A in the four-day games, is expected to give the local players good competition.

The 16-member Shaheens squad includes eight players who have already represented Pakistan in international cricket.

Besides the eight international players, Shaheens will be hoping for left-arm spinner Mehran Mumtaz to replicate his red-ball form in the white-ball series. He took 15 wickets across the two four-day matches, including 11 wickets in the first game at the Kwekwe Sports Club in Kwekwe.

In the batting department, Shaheens will be banking on Haseebullah, Mohammad Huraira and Omair Bin Yousuf — all of whom struck centuries in the two four-dayers — to take their form with the bat in the limited-overs series.

Additionally, with the inclusion of Saim Ayub, who recently represented Pakistan in eight T20Is, the Shaheens have added more depth to their batting line-up.

The series opener was initially scheduled for Takashinga Cricket Club, but Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) has decided to move the game to allow for ongoing refurbishments at the Highfield ground to be completed first.

The dates remain unchanged, with the one-dayers now all being played at Harare Sports Club. The second game will be on Friday, with more matches set for May 21, 23, 25 and 27.

Tickets are going for US$2 to enjoy the action from anywhere in the ground except the Centurion where admission is pegged at US$10, while senior citizens and children in school uniform will enter free of charge.

Meanwhile, ZC announced a historic TV deal for one-day series which will see the live broadcast to global audiences all the six one-day matches.

Until now, only matches involving Zimbabwe national teams in Test, one-day international and Twenty20 international series or International Cricket Council events had ever been televised.

After concluding the broadcast deal for the Zimbabwe Select-Pakistan Shaheens series, ZC Managing Director Givemore Makoni said:

“We are pleased to announce that, for the first time since the game of cricket was first played on Zimbabwean soil back in 1892, we will be beaming live on television and other digital platforms action that is not part of a full international series.

“Televising the upcoming one-day series against the Pakistani side will be a massive boost for our game and this would not have been possible without the unwavering support of our commercial and broadcast partners who continue showing confidence in our growing brand.”

Zimbabwe Select Squad for one-day series:

Ryan Burl, Tendai Chatara, Craig Ervine, Brad Evans, Innocent Kaia, Clive Madande, Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Brandon Mavuta, Blessing Muzar-abani, Richard Ngarava, Milton Shumba, Sean Williams

Pakistan Shaheens:

Imran Butt (captain), Hussain Talat (vice-captain), Aamir Jamal, Abdul Wahid Bangalzai, Haseebul-lah, Kamran Ghulam, Mehran Mumtaz, Mir Hamza, Mohammad Ali, Mohammad Huraira, Mubasir Khan, Omair Bin Yousuf, Qasim Akram, Rohail Nazir (wicketkeeper), Saim Ayub and Shahnawaz Dahani.