The Zimbabwe national cricket team will kick off a busy schedule in the New Year with a tour of Sri Lanka for three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) next month; Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) confirmed the news on Tuesday (December 28).
This tour will also mark Zimbabwe’s resumption in international cricket having last played in September against Scotland.
The two teams will also be playing in the ODI format for the first time since January 2018 when they played each other in a tri-nation series also involving Bangladesh.
As far as bilateral series is concerned, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe faced each other in Hambantota in 2017 where a spirited Chevrons side came back from being down 1-2 to famously win the five-match ODI series.
The upcoming three-match ODI series, which will be played behind closed doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic forms part of the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League.
All the matches will be played at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy and will be day-night affairs.
The Zimbabwe National Team will tour Sri Lanka during January 2022 to take part in a 03 Match ODI Series.
The Matches will be played at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, Kandy, under a Bio-Secure Bubble – FIXTURE: https://t.co/fyaJWCGIG7 #SLvZIM
— Sri Lanka Cricket 🇱🇰 (@OfficialSLC) December 28, 2021
The ODI series will commence on January 16 with the last two games to be played on January 18 and 21. The visitors will arrive in Sri Lanka on January 10. Plans to stage three Twenty20s with Zimbabwe were shelved because of the Sri Lanka’s upcoming tour of Australia, an SLC spokesman said.
Zimbabwe will feel confident traveling to Sri Lanka as they have defeated them four times in last eight ODI matches. The team will be keen on repeating their heroics of 2017 even as Sri Lanka is also rebuilding the side.
The ODI series will also be Mahela Jayawardena‘s first assignment as Sri Lanka’s consultant coach.
Former coach Mickey Arthur stepped down from the position after the recent home series against West Indies and joined Derbyshire County as Head of Cricket.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe have a busy schedule to start with in 2022.
After the tour of Sri Lanka they will return home to host Afghanistan later in January for a limited overs series that also encompass the ICC Cricket World Cup Super League games.
Zimbabwe Cricket are also in talks with Ireland, South Africa, West Indies, Bangladesh, India and Australia for possibles tours in 2022.
The Chevrons are part of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League, which is a qualification pathway to the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.
They were supposed to play Australia away and India at home last year but the clashes were postponed following the outbreak of the coronavirus.
The ICC Cricket World Cup Super League is a 13-team tournament that will take place across two years and will determine which teams qualify to the CWC 2023. A team gets 10 points for a win and five for no result.
Zimbabwe currently sit at the bottom of the 13-team table with 25 points from nine games. They won two games and lost six while one match was declared no result.