Zimbabwe players insured for Pakistan tour

Mumbai: The members of the Zimbabwe team and support staff are insured for the Pakistan tour. This was revealed by Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) board chairman Wilson Manase. 

Speaking exclusively from Harare, before flying out to join the squad in Pakistan, he said, "Yes, there is an insurance for them. But I can't disclose the sum."

Wilson Manase expressed his satisfaction over the security arrangements made for his team in Pakistan. He even thanked the warm welcome his team received on arrival in Lahore.

"Whatever feedback I have received is good. The players are satisfied with the security arrangements. Our own security agency is also guarding the players and I am sure the tour will end without any untoward incident," he said. 

The Zimbabwe team has undertaken the tour against the advice of government and Sports & Recreation Commission. Even the FICA chief (Tony Irish) had expressed reservation over the safety issues in Pakistan.

Incidentally, the Zimbabwe Cricket board's final decision on tour came after three days of heavy debate, which began on May 14 when ZC media department issued a press release suspending the tour and 20 minutes later sent an email retracting it.

"The decision of suspending the tour may have been taken in haste but we didn't re-confirm the tour even after players were ready. This (keeping mum for hours) was because there were several negatives being floated in the media and lot of people were discussing the issue and we didn't want our players to have negative feelings about the tour," Wilson Manase, the lawyer by profession, said. 

"The players have agreed to tour with their regular contacts and they will be accordingly paid. Since this is a "friendly tour", we are not making money out of this," he added. 

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) likely to travel to Zimbabwe few months later.

The PCB has invited the ICC and other members' officials to witness the matches and security measures adopted by them.