The Sunday Mail
“While negotiations are still going on in Barbados, with respect to the Team India tour to Zimbabwe it seems all is confirmed that the tour will go ahead. Consequently Team India is expected in Zimbabwe on the 7th of next month,” ZC chairman Wilson Manase could only say from Barbados last night. “Team Zimbabwe must get ready and be prepared to give Team India arousing welcome.”
Clearing doubts over India’s upcoming tour of Zimbabwe, the BCCI yesterday confirmed that the senior selection committee will meet in Delhi on Monday (tomorrow) to pick what is likely to be a second-string squad for the three ODIs and two T20Is.
“A meeting of the All-India Senior Selection Committee of the BCCI will be held at 11:00 am on Monday, June 29 to select the Indian teams for the forthcoming tour of Zimbabwe starting from July 10,” the BCCI said in a statement.
The board also said that the “committee will also select the India ‘A’ team that will participate in a Tri-Series against Australia A and South Africa A” in Chennai and Wayanad next month.
Doubts over the fate of the Zimbabwe series had emerged in the past few weeks with reports indicating the BCCI was unhappy about the tour being broadcast by Ten Sports, a subsidiary of Essel Group which recently revealed its plans to form another anti-establishment T20 league, subsequently rattling the ICC.
While Zimbabwe Cricket chairman William Manase initially acknowledged that “if the matters take too long to resolve, ZC and the BCCI might mutually agree to push the tour to next year”, an official privy to the tour discussions told ESPNcricinfo earlier in the week that both sides were making progress and that the series will take place as scheduled.
Before the BCCI statement, the strongest indication that most of the hurdles had been cleared came via a promotional advertisement for the series put out by Ten Sports on Wednesday. — cricinfo
