Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) is very keen to take their head coach Lalchand Rajput to Pakistan for the upcoming limited-over series tour next month and they would be requesting the authorities in Islamabad to issue a visa for the former Indian cricketer.
The Zimbabwe squad will reach Pakistan on October 10 and will practice and train in the biosecure bubble and ZC wants to take their Indian coach for the white-ball series and has already requested concerned authorities to facilitate Rajput’s travel to Pakistan.
ZC Chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani was quoted as saying by The Daily Observer Post: “Lalchand Rajput is our coach and we are keen to send him with the team there (Pakistan). (We) will request the authorities there to facilitate his travel.”
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Presently, the ZC is holding a training camp for 25 provisional players, who would be part of the Pakistan tour, without their head coach Rajput since he is currently in India waiting for the flights to resume and even the board is also trying to fly him out of India to join the camp in Harare, but facing problems because of the travel restrictions put in place in many countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, since the bilateral relations between India and Pakistan have been on a downhill due to Pakistan sponsored terrorism in India, a source in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has revealed that the Zimbabwe coach will have no problems in getting a visa to tour Pakistan next month.
The source further went on to explain that there should not be a problem in Rajput getting a visa because visas will be issued to the Zimbabwe squad and ZC will submit a list of players and officials to relevant authorities for the same.
As per the Press Trust of India, the PCB source stated: “There shouldn't be any problems in Rajput getting a visa.”
Noteworthy, Zimbabwe is scheduled to tour Pakistan to play three T20Is and as many as ODIs, which are part of the ICC World Cup Super League, starting on October 30 followed by the second and third ODI on November 1 and 3 in Multan respectively. The T20Is are scheduled to play on November 7, 8, and 10 in Rawalpindi.
