In the second ODI, Aleem Dar of Pakistan stood in his 210th ODI match as an on-field umpire, surpassing South African Rudi Koertzen's record of officiating in the most ODI matches.[7] In the second T20I, Ahsan Raza of Pakistan stood in his 50th T20I match as an on-field umpire, becoming the first umpire to reach the milestone in T20I cricket.[8]
Pakistan won the first two ODI matches to take an unassailable lead in the series.[9] The third match was tied, with Zimbabwe winning the Super Over.[10] It was Zimbabwe's first win in an ODI in Pakistan since November 1998.[11] Pakistan also won the first two T20I matches to win the series.[12] They also won the third T20I by eight wickets to take the series 3–0.[13] Zimbabwe's Elton Chigumbura retired from international cricket following the conclusion of the tour.[14]
Background
In August 2020, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced that the tour was still going ahead as planned, and were preparing a bio-secure environment, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[15][16] Initially, the PCB were considering to host both the T20I and ODI series at a single venue in Lahore.[17] However, in September 2020, it was announced that the T20I and ODI series would be held in Rawalpindi and Multan respectively.[18] On 9 October 2020, the PCB moved the matches from Multan to Lahore, following a disagreement with the government in the city over finances.[19] Multan last hosted international matches in April 2008, when Bangladesh played at the venue.[20]
On 11 October 2020, the PCB confirmed the itinerary for the series, with the ODI matches taking place in Rawalpindi, and the T20I matches taking place in Lahore.[21][22] Smog had been forecast in Lahore during November,[23] with the PCB monitoring the situation.[24] On 23 October 2020, the PCB made a further change to the tour, moving all the T20I matches from Lahore to Rawalpindi, because of the concerns about the smog.[25]
In September 2020, Zimbabwe Cricket stated that the official confirmation of travelling to Pakistan was imminent.[26] Tavengwa Mukuhlani, chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket, said he was "hopeful" that the tour would go ahead.[27] On 20 September 2020, Zimbabwe named a preliminary squad of 25 players to begin training ahead of the tour.[28] On 23 September 2020, Zimbabwe Cricket received government permission to travel to Pakistan.[29] On 19 October 2020, the Zimbabwe team departed from the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport,[30] arriving in Pakistan early the next day.[31] The Zimbabwean head coach Lalchand Rajput did not travel with the team, so their bowling coach Douglas Hondo was put in charge of the team.[32] The PCB also confirmed the match officials for the tour on the same day.[33]
On 19 October 2020, Misbah-ul-Haq, head coach and chief selector of the Pakistan team, named a twenty-two man squad of "probables" for the series.[38] The squad travelled to Lahore to begin COVID-19 testing and training ahead of the ODI matches,[39] with the squads for each format being named later.[40] Pakistan's vice-captain, Shadab Khan, was ruled out of the ODI series, after suffering an injury during a warm-up game.[41]Haider Ali was added to Pakistan's squad for the second ODI.[42] He replaced Haris Sohail, who suffered an injury during the first ODI match.[43] For the third and final ODI, Abdullah Shafique, Zafar Gohar and Mohammad Hasnain were added to the squad, replacing Imad Wasim, Abid Ali and Haris Rauf.[44] However, on the morning of the third ODI, Haris Rauf was re-added to the team, after Faheem Ashraf was suffering from food poisoning.[45]
Ahead of the T20I series, Abid Ali, Haris Sohail and Imam-ul-Haq were released from Pakistan's squad.[46]Shadab Khan was also unavailable for selection for Pakistan's squad for the T20Is, due to his earlier injury which ruled him out of the ODI matches.[47][48]
Brendan Taylor scored his 17th century in international cricket to become the batsman with the most centuries for Zimbabwe across all three formats.[50]
World Cup Super League points: Pakistan 10, Zimbabwe 0.
