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It's cricket, but it's much, much more.
This series will be less about what happens between bat and ball and more about what happens beyond the boundary, or more precisely, what does not happen. Security threats have meant that no Test-playing team has visited Pakistan since the 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan team bus and no Test-playing team would have if not for Zimbabwe, although they won't be playing any Tests.
Against the advice of the international player association, FICA, and their own country's foreign affairs ministry, Zimbabwe have done much more than hold out an olive branch to Pakistan; they're planting a forest. Their 10-day, two T20 and three ODI tour could cultivate the comeback of international cricket to a country most teams are too scared to travel to. At least, that is what both the Pakistan Cricket Board and Zimbabwe Cricket hope.
In many ways, the PCB and ZC are perfect for each other because each has what the other wants. The PCB wants to host cricket for its team, ZC wants its team to play more cricket, and that is what brought the two together. The actual cricket could be a periphery to those desires but it will be important for both nonetheless.
Pakistan will be before their home fans once again and that alone will be motivation enough to turn things around from their recent tour of Bangladesh, where they were blanked in the limited-overs matches. They will be smarting after that, desperate to show they have not sunk to a new low, and there will be no better place to do that than in front of their own fans.
Passionate supporters have already caught the Zimbabwean players' eyes with many of them sharing on social media their excitement to be received so warmly but they will know those eyes do not want to see Pakistan defeated. And those eyes won't be expecting anything like that.
Zimbabwe are historically poor travelers and lost every match on their most recent away trip to Bangladesh. They have not played any cricket since the World Cup but are hopeful of a(nother) new beginning under Dav Whatmore. They have a packed winter schedule and will hope to get off to a good start in Pakistan.
