Zimbabwe in town

Zimbabwe's Test captain Brendan Taylor leads his team out of the Hazrat Shah Jalal International Airport yesterday evening. The side will begin its tour with a three-day match against BCB XI starting on Monday. Photo: Star

The Zimbabwean national cricket team arrived in Bangladesh yesterday to play their first Test series here after nearly a decade. The teams will also take part in a five-match ODI series.

The last time Zimbabwe played a Test series in Bangladesh was back in January 2005 when the Tigers won the two-match series 1-0.

The 24-member contingent landed at the Hazrat Shah Jalal International Airport at 5:20 pm yesterday. The members of the team had to go through a test for the Ebola virus. After the completion of the customary procedure, the visitors headed for the Pan Pacific Sonargaon which will be their base for the next few weeks in Dhaka.

Led by Brendan Taylor, Zimbabwe will begin their tour with a three-day practice match against a BCB XI on October 20 at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah. The teams will then lock horns in the first Test at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur from October 25.

A number of players from the current Zimbabwean line-up had come to Bangladesh last month to play two four-day matches and three one day games representing Zimbabwe A. Uncapped players Brian Chari and Wellington Masakadza for instance, had a good outing in that tour. Top order batsman, Chari was the top-scorer for Zimbabwe A in the 4-day matches while Masakadza's slow-left armers troubled a number of Bangladeshi batsmen.

Wicketkeeper Regis Chakabva, Malcolm Waller and Vusi Sibanda are a few other players who were present in the Zimbabwe A team in that series. Bangladesh A won both the one day match and four-day match series' in September.

After the first Test in Dhaka, the teams will move to Khulna to play the second Test, which begins from November 3. The third Test will begin on November 12 in Chittagong.