The

Zimbabwe cricket team The Zimbabwe men's national cricket team, also known as the Chevrons, represents Zimbabwe in men's international cricket and is overseen by Zimbabwe Cricket. Zimbabwe has been a Full Member of the International Cricket Council since 1992. As o ...

toured the United Arab Emirates in March 2021 to play two

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

and three

Twenty20 International Twenty20 International (T20I) is a form of Twenty20 cricket, in which each team plays a single innings with a maximum of twenty overs. The matches are played between international teams recognized by the International Cricket Council (ICC). ...

(T20I) matches against

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. It was the first time the two teams had played a Test match against each other. Ahmed Shah Pakteen was named as the on-field umpire for both Tests, becoming the first Afghan umpire to officiate in Test cricket. Originally, the series was scheduled to be played in Oman. In January 2021, the

International Cricket Council The International Cricket Council (ICC) is the global Sports governing body, governing body of cricket. It was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in 1909 by representatives from Australia, England, and South Africa. In 1965, the body wa ...

(ICC) gave accreditation for the Ministry Turf 1 at the

Al Amerat Cricket Stadium Oman Cricket Academy Ground, also known as the Al Amerat Cricket Stadium, is a cricket ground in Al Amarat, south of Muscat, Oman. The ground is owned by the Oman Cricket Board. In January 2021, the International Cricket Council (ICC) gave accr ...

Muscat Muscat (, ) is the capital and most populous city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the population of the Muscat Governorate in 2022 was 1.72 million. ...

to host Test cricket. However, in February 2021, the

Afghanistan Cricket Board The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB; , ; formerly Afghanistan Cricket Federation) is the official governing body of cricket in Afghanistan. It is Afghanistan's representative at the International Cricket Council (ICC) and was an associate member ...

(ACB) confirmed that the series would take place in the UAE. The series was initially in doubt due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, however in late January 2021, Zimbabwe's Sports and Recreation Commission gave its approval for the tour to go ahead. On 12 February 2021, the ACB announced the tour schedule. Zimbabwe won the first Test inside two days by ten wickets, with captain Sean Williams scoring a century in their first innings. Zimbabwe last won a Test match in

November 2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of Sou ...

, when they beat

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. Afghanistan won the second Test match by six wickets to draw the series 1–1, with

Hashmatullah Shahidi Hashmatullah Shahidi (; born 4 November 1994) is an Afghan cricketer and currently the captain of Afghanistan national cricket team in One Day International (ODI) and Test cricket. He made his ODI debut for Afghanistan against Kenya in October 20 ...

becoming the first batsman for Afghanistan to score a double century in Test cricket. Afghanistan won the first two T20I matches, by 48 and 45 runs, respectively, to win the series with a game to spare. Afghanistan won the third and final match by 47 runs, with

Asghar Afghan Mohammad Asghar Afghan (; born Mohammad Asghar Stanikzai) is an Afghan former cricketer who had captained the Afghanistan national cricket team. Asghar is a right-handed batsman and a medium-fast bowler. In May 2018, he was named as the capta ...

becoming the most successful captain in men's T20I cricket.

Squads

Afghanistan also named Zahir Khan and Abdul Wasi as reserve players for the Test matches.

Chamu Chibhabha Chamunorwa Justice "Chamu" Chibhabha (born 9 September 1986) is a Zimbabwean cricketer who bats right-handed and bowls right-arm medium pace. In January 2020, Zimbabwe Cricket named him as the captain of Zimbabwe's One Day International (ODI) an ...

, Zimbabwe's

limited overs Limited overs cricket, also known as white ball cricket, is a version of the sport of cricket in which a match is generally completed within one day. There are a number of formats, including List A cricket (8-hour games), Twenty20 cricket (3-h ...

captain, did not travel for the T20I matches due to an injury. The Afghanistan Cricket Board also confirmed that

Mujeeb Ur Rahman Mujeeb Ur Rahman Zadran (; born 28 March 2001) is an Afghan cricketer, who plays for the Afghanistan national cricket team. Two months after his international debut, at the age of 16 years and 325 days, he became the youngest player to take a ...

Hamid Hassan Hamid Hassan (; born 1 June 1987) is a former Afghan cricketer. He is a right-arm fast bowler and a right-handed batsman who mainly plays as a bowler. He made his international debut in April 2009. Early life and career Hassan was born in 198 ...

Gulbadin Naib Gulbadin Naib (born 4 June 1991) is an Afghan cricketer. An all-rounder, Naib bats right-handed and bowls right-arm fast-medium. In April 2019, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) named Naib the team's new One Day International (ODI) captain ah ...

, Waqar Salamkheil,

Azmatullah Omarzai Azmatullah Omarzai (Pashto: عظمت الله عمرزی born 24 March 2000) is an Afghan cricketer from Nurgal District of Kunar province in eastern Afghanistan. Azmatullah started playing cricket when he was 14 years old. He won the ICC Men' ...

could join the T20I squad once their visa issues had been resolved.

Tour match

Test series

1st Test

2nd Test

T20I series

1st T20I

2nd T20I

3rd T20I

Notes

References

External links

Series home at ESPN Cricinfo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zimbabwean cricket team against Afghanistan in the UAE in 2020-21 2021 in Afghan cricket 2021 in Zimbabwean cricket International cricket competitions in 2020–21 Afghan cricket tours of the United Arab Emirates Zimbabwean cricket tours of the United Arab Emirates

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...