Zimbabwe Cricket on Saturday accepted the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) invitation to participate in a T20I tri-series also featuring Sri Lanka, following the withdrawal of the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB). The ACB pulled out of the series after alleging that three of its cricketers were killed in a strike carried out by Islamabad. Pakistan had again targeted terrorist hideouts in Afghanistan on Friday. Incidents were reported from the Angoor Adda region and across Afghanistan’s Urgun and Barmal districts of Paktika province as strikes were conducted against hideouts of the outlawed Hafiz Gul Bahadur group. The attacks came on the heels of an audacious gun-and-bomb attack targeting a military installation in North Waziristan, and just hours after Islamabad and Kabul extended their two-day ceasefire. “Zimbabwe Cricket has accepted the Pakistan Cricket Board’s invitation to participate in a T20I tri-series also featuring Sri Lanka,” a statement from the PCB said. The maiden tri-series on Pakistan soil has been scheduled to provide all three sides with preparation ahead of next year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, the cricket board added. The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Saturday night issued a statement on the deaths of three Afghan cricketers in an airstrike in Afghanistan’s Paktika province, stating it was “deeply saddened and appalled”. “The three young men had returned home after participating in a friendly cricket match when they were killed in an attack that also claimed the lives of several civilians,” the governing body said. “The ICC strongly condemns this act of violence that has robbed families, communities, and the cricketing world of three bright talents whose only ambition was to play the sport they loved,” it added. “The ICC stands in solidarity with the Afghanistan Cricket Board and echoes their grief.”
Zimbabwe accepts PCB offer for tri-nation series
Published on: October 19, 2025 12:05 AM