India’s tour to Zimbabwe yet to be finalised

India’s tour to Zimbabwe could be postponed to next year if the issues between the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Ten Sports, the broadcaster for the series, are not resolved, a Zimbabwe Cricket release has said.

India are scheduled to play three ODIs and two T20Is in Zimbabwe from July 10 and ZC stated the board Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer will look to resolve the issue with the BCCI officials on the sidelines of the ICC Annual Conference in Barbados between June 22 and 26.

“There have been reports that an issue over Zimbabwe Cricket’s broadcasting partner is threatening the forthcoming India tour to Zimbabwe. The position is that ZC is in constant contact with both the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and Ten Sports, over issues which should be resolved before the tour,” a Zimbabwe Cricket release stated.

ZC Chairman Wilson Manase was also quoted as saying that the tour might be pushed to next year if the issues were not resolved in time. “If the matters take too long to resolve, ZC and the BCCI might mutually agree to push the tour to next year,”  he added.

The release also said that ZC was yet to approach the local immigration authorities for the facilitation of visas because the memorandum of understanding between the two boards was still being worked out.

“Cricket is a national sport and ZC enjoys a cordial relationship with all relevant government offices so the acquisition of visas is not an issue,” Manase said. “The substantive issues are what we will discuss in Barbados.”