India still to confirm Zimbabwe tour

Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) will have to wait a bit longer before they know if India will go ahead with their scheduled Zimbabwe tour in July.

The tour hangs in the balance after the Asians expressed hesitation to come for three ODIs citing fatigue from a crammed fixture programme.

Following the recently-ended hectic Indian Premier League (IPL), India are scheduled to take part in the ICC Champions Trophy in England and Wales which begins this Thursday and ends on June 23.

They are also scheduled for a tri-series in the West Indies from June 28 to July 11.

Their tour of Zimbabwe which is on the International Cricket Council (ICC) Future Tours Programme had been planned to begin six days after the conclusion of the Windies series.

While they have named their squad for the Champions Trophy as well as the tri-series, India have remained tight-lipped on the Zimbabwe tour.

ZC expected a quick response after sending a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), with proposed dates of the tournament.

The association’s chairman, Peter Chingoka said from his meeting with BCCI chiefs on the sidelines of the IPL final last Sunday, he was told that a substantial response would only come at the end of June.

India have however indicated that even if they fail to travel to Zimbabwe in July, they are still willing to come at a later stage.

Chingoka is expected to have another meeting with BCCI on the sidelines of the ICC annual conference in London late this month.

“We are still in discussion with the Indian guys. We are just waiting to hear from them. Although nothing is concrete at the moment, we are sure the series will go ahead,” said Chingoka.

“At the moment I cannot pre-empt what we have discussed. We are constantly in touch with them and we are having another meeting at the end of this month where we expect to hear their final position.”

Zimbabwe has also requested to extend the three-match series to five games.

Cash-strapped ZC are desperate to bring India, as the series comes with enormous television rights fees substantial enough to cover their crippling debts.