In the month of January 2023, Zimbabwe will welcome the Ireland team in order to play a bilateral 3 ODI series with Zimbabwe. The statistics of the Zimbabwe vs Ireland ODI series 2023 have been officially revealed by Zimbabwe Cricket and Cricket Ireland. All the matches of the series will be played at the same stadium i.e, Harare Sports Club, Harare. The series will kick off with the 1st ODI on 18th January at Harare Sports Club, Harare, then both the teams will face each other on 20th January for the 2nd ODI, and the last ODI between Zimbabwe and Ireland will be held on 23rd January.
The Ireland tour of Zimbabwe 2023 marks the beginning of a hectic season for the Ireland Men's team, which involves four trips, many home series, and participating in two world cup qualification games. After their remarkable appearances at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in October , the Ireland team has not participated in a match until this visit. The ODI series will indeed be advantageous to both teams since it will provide them a chance to practice for the ODI World Cup qualifying matches.
Most probably, Andrew Balbirnie will play the lead role of captain for Ireland whereas Craig Ervine will take charge of the Zimbabwe ODI squad. Dave Houghton, who was the first captain of the Zimbabwe cricket squad, will guide the team as a head coach while Heinrich Malan, a former South African coach, will handle the responsibility of coach for Ireland. Currently, Ireland is sitting at the number 11th position whereas Zimbabwe is holding the 13th position in the ICC ODI team ranking.
In terms of head-to-head in the ODI, Zimbabwe, and Ireland have faced each other on 16 occasions where both the teams performed equally on the field by winning 7 matches each, so the winning percentage of both the teams against each other is 50%. So, it would be a crucial series for Ireland and Zimbabwe and they will have to give their best in order to improve their position for qualifying for the World Cup 2023.