Injury setback for Pakistan
. . . Zim cricket clinch kit deal with Ihsan
PAKISTAN are likely to be without the services of teenage pace sensation Naseem Shah for the upcoming ODI series against Zimbabwe.
is is because Naseem suffered a groin injury while playing for Central Punjab in the National T20 Cup. He complained of pain in his groin and was withdrawn from the tournament.
Naseem subsequently went to the National High Performance Centre in Lahore, where the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) medical panel assessed the severity of his injury. As reported by Cricket Pakistan, it is understood that Naseem’s injury is a minor one, but the team management are leaning towards resting the 17-year-old for the series in order to ensure he doesn’t further aggravate it.
It remains to be seen if Naseem will be picked for the three T20 Internationals against Zimbabwe as Pakistan will tour New Zealand after the series and the team management will definitely want Naseem to be fully fit by then.
Pakistan’s series against Zimbabwe will consist of three ODIs and three T20 Internationals.
e ODIs will be held in Rawalpindi from October 30 to November 3, while the T20 Internationals have been moved from Multan to Lahore and will take place from November 7 to 10.
Meanwhile Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) clinched a kit deal with Ihsan International for the upcoming limited-overs series in Pakistan.
e sponsorship package, worth US$30 000, will see the Pakistan-based sports goods manufacturer supplying playing, training and travel wear to Zimbabwe’s touring players and members of the support staff.
“I am delighted to unveil the US$30 000 kit sponsorship for the Zimbabwe national cricket team,” Ihsan International director
Majid Khan said.
“e kit sponsorship is for the 32 members of the Zimbabwe national cricket team for use during the upcoming tour to Pakistan which starts from the October 20, 2020.”
e new playing shirt was presented to President Emmerson Mnangagwa and his deputies, as well as to several ministers during a ceremony held at State House in Harare on Tuesday.
e Pakistan tour kit deal is over and above the US$70 000 sponsorship contract that ZC and Ihsan International had already sealed for the supply of kit to four women’s provincial teams and two men’s regional select sides.
An Ihsan International representative, Kingston Makiwa, unveiled the kit for the women’s teams – Eagles, Mountaineers, Rhinos and Tuskers – during an event held at Harare Sports Club on Wednesday to launch women’s inter-provincial one-day and T20 competitions.
ZC Acting Managing Director Givemore Makoni has thanked Ihsan International – which previously supplied uniforms for Zimbabwe and domestic sides between 2004 and 2007 – for the latest sponsorship packages.
“On behalf of ZC, I would like to express our gratitude to Ihsan International for teaming up with us again for the Pakistan tour as well as for our women’s domestic cricket and men’s regional select sides,” he said.
“Seeing our teams neatly kitted out in such quality wear gives us joy and we have no doubt that will also motivate our boys and girls to perform to the best of their abilities.”
Apart from the kit deals, Ihsan International also sponsors some individual Zimbabwe players with cricket equipment. — battingwithbimal.com/ZimCricket