Sikandar Raza walks out at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Saturday 17 October as Zimbabwe's captain once again, leading the Chevrons against Bangladesh in the opening match of an ODI tri-series hosted by Afghanistan. It is the first stop on a five-week tour that runs to 17 November and takes in all three formats, and it comes exactly a year before Zimbabwe open their home World Cup campaign.
The tour at a glance
The tri-series is a short, sharp round robin. Each side plays the other two once, and the top two meet in the final. According to BBC Sport's fixture list, the schedule is:
- Saturday 17 October: Bangladesh v Zimbabwe, Abu Dhabi
- Monday 19 October: Afghanistan v Zimbabwe, Abu Dhabi
- Wednesday 21 October: Afghanistan v Bangladesh, Sharjah
- Friday 23 October: Final, Sharjah
BBC Sport lists the ODIs as day/night games starting at 10:30 BST, which is 11:30 in Harare, and SuperSport's match page for Saturday's opener also shows 11:30. Some listings carry a later start, so it is worth checking on the morning.
Zimbabwe then stay in the UAE for a bilateral series against Afghanistan in Sharjah: three T20Is on 27 and 29 October and 1 November (BBC lists 14:30 GMT, 16:30 in Harare), followed by two Tests from 5 to 9 November and 13 to 17 November.
Raza in charge, Ngarava out
The big absence is Richard Ngarava. The left-arm seamer, who captains Zimbabwe in Tests and ODIs, is still rehabilitating a back injury, and the ICC confirms Raza will lead both white-ball sides in his place. Head coach Justin Sammons has said Ngarava will not be available for the rest of the year, which rules him out of the Tests too. Speaking to the Herald before camp resumed, Sammons called him "a huge miss for us", pointing to his ability to strike in the powerplay, the exact phase where Australia "bossed" Zimbabwe in September.
The 15-man ODI squad is Raza, Ben Curran, Blessing Muzarabani, Brad Evans, Brendan Taylor, Brian Bennett, Craig Ervine, Ernest Masuku, Newman Nyamhuri, Ryan Burl, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Tafadzwa Tsiga, Vincent Masekesa, Wellington Masakadza and Wessly Madhevere.
Two names stand out. ESPNcricinfo reports that Tsiga, a 32-year-old wicketkeeper batter with three first-class hundreds this year, and Masekesa, a 29-year-old legspinner who was joint-top wicket-taker for the Mountaineers in the Logan Cup, could both make ODI debuts. They replace Graeme Cremer and Innocent Kaia, who retired hurt with a thigh injury in the last Australia game and is only expected back for the T20Is. Taylor, Ervine and Raza carry the batting experience, while Muzarabani, fresh from a place in the ICC's T20 World Cup Team of the Tournament, leads the seam attack.
Form guide: a rough September
Zimbabwe arrive needing a lift. In early September they reached the final of the T20I tri-series in Windhoek, Namibia, but lost to South Africa by 48 runs. A week later, Australia swept the three-match ODI series in Harare 3-0, ESPNcricinfo notes.
Bangladesh, by contrast, have been in the UAE for a week and are used to the heat. They dominated the one-off Test against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi from 9 to 13 October, with Litton Das scoring a century and named player of the match, only for Afghanistan to bat out 142 overs in the fourth innings and escape with a draw, eight wickets down. Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto told ESPNcricinfo his side "ended up drawing the game due to the small mistakes", a dropped catch, a missed stumping and a botched run-out among them. That points to a side in decent shape but frustrated, and keen to convert in the white-ball games.
Afghanistan come out of that Test with real momentum: Sediqullah Atal's 111 off 332 balls was, per ESPNcricinfo, the first fourth-innings century by an Afghanistan batter.
Why this tour matters
This is the most useful block of cricket Zimbabwe will get in the run-up to 2027. The ICC published the World Cup fixtures on 1 October, and the Chevrons' Group A reads like a stress test: Qualifier A and Afghanistan at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo on 9 and 11 October 2027, Australia and Pakistan at Harare Sports Club on 15 and 19 October, then India in the first World Cup match at the new Mosi-oa-Tunya stadium in Victoria Falls on 24 October.
That makes Monday's game against Afghanistan, Zimbabwe's second group opponent next October, the closest thing to a dress rehearsal. Playing Afghanistan and Bangladesh on slow, spin-friendly UAE surfaces is a good test of whether Zimbabwe's middle overs can hold up against quality spin, an area that will decide plenty of games in Bulawayo and Harare next year.
It also matters for selection. With Ngarava out, the tour is a chance to see who else can take new-ball wickets, and whether Tsiga and Masekesa are white-ball options or red-ball specialists. The two Tests against Afghanistan in November give the longer-format group rare back-to-back cricket away from home.
For fans in Zimbabwe, the 11:30 starts mean the Saturday opener lands neatly at the weekend. SuperSport carries the fixture on its match centre. Broadcast details for Zimbabwe had not been confirmed by Zimbabwe Cricket at the time of writing, so check ZC's channels for the official stream.
What comes next: two group games in three days, then a likely final in Sharjah on 23 October if Zimbabwe can beat at least one of their opponents.
Sources
- Zimbabwe announce white-ball squads for UAE Tour, ICC
- Raza leads Zimbabwe in Ngarava's absence at UAE tri-series, ESPNcricinfo
- Afghanistan v Bangladesh & Zimbabwe (in UAE) 2026: fixtures, results and scorecards, BBC Sport
- 'We should have taken all ten wickets': Shanto rues missed chances, ESPNcricinfo
- ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2027 schedule revealed and ballot system opens, ICC
- Chevrons regroup for busy schedule, The Herald
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