Afzal undaunted by Zimbabwe World T20 challenge

Afzal's side - who ICC chief executive David Richardson revealed have recently been the subject of a probe from its anti-corruption unit??-??will be making their second appearance at the tournament having bowed out in the first round of group stages in 2014.

Their sole victory in that competition came in a two-wicket win over Bangladesh and, although Zimbabwe are second??favourites to progress??from Group B after Afghanistan, Afzal is hopeful his team can spring a surprise in Nagpur.

"We are confident in our own abilities and for the first time for a while we will have our strongest team," Afzal said.??"The guys just want to do Hong Kong proud."

Zimbabwe arrested a run of three straight defeats in warm-up matches with a six-wicket success against Ireland in Dharamsala on Saturday.

Captain Hamilton Masakadza scored an unbeaten 68 against Ireland??and will look to lead from the front again on a surface that is expected to provide some turn.

Of the 40 wickets that fell in the last international??match to be played at the??Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium - a Test between India and South Africa - 33 came from spinners.

But asked about the surface Masakadza said: "It's very different from the Test match wicket. That was a Test match, and this pitch has been prepared for T20, so definitely two different pitches and I think this one will play much better."