Afghanistan pulls out of proposed tour of Zimbabwe over broadcasting issues

Afghanistan have pulled out of a proposed tour of Zimbabwe over a disagreement about broadcasting the five-ODI matches. The matches between Afghanistan and Zimbabwe were scheduled to be played next month but the board said that Afghanistan decided to pull out of the tour due to disagreement over broadcasting issues. This was confirmed in an official release by the Zimbabwe Cricket Board.

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) had originally asked Zimbabwe to host them as part of preparations for the World Cup, which will take place in England from May to July this year. The ODI matches were scheduled to be held in Harare between April 18 and April 28. However, after agreeing to share the series costs with Zimbabwe Cricket, the tour hit a roadblock over the issue of televising the games.

Afghanistan will now do the World Cup preparation by playing matches against Ireland and Scotland in the month of May. Afghanistan recently concluded the ODI series with Ireland, which was drawn 2-2 and they are set to play their second Test match later this week. Zimbabwe were last seen in action in November when they toured Bangladesh.

(With inputs from agencies.)