Zimbabwe captain Chamu Chibhabha won the toss and opted to bat in the first Twenty20 international against Pakistan in Rawalpindi on Saturday.
Zimbabwe, who lost the preceding one-day series 2-1, have never won a Twenty20 international against Pakistan in 11 attempts.
Pakistan gave a Twenty20 international debut to 27-year-old spinner Usman Qadir, son of the great leg-spinner Abdul Qadir who died last year.
The other two T20Is will also be played at the same venue on Sunday and Tuesday.
Teams:
Pakistan: Babar Azam (captain), Fakhar Zaman, Haider Ali, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Rizwan, Khushdil Shah, Faheem Ashraf, Usman Qadir, Wahab Riaz, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain
Zimbabwe: Chamu Chibhabha (captain), Sikandar Raza, Ryan Burl, Tendai Chisoro, Tendai Chatara, Wesley Madhevere, Elton Chigumbura, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Brendan Taylor, Sean Williams
Umpires: Aleem Dar (PAK) and Asif Yaqoob (PAK)
TV umpire: Rashid Riaz (PAK)
Match referee: Mohammad Javed (PAK)