Warriors coach Zdravko Logarusic has dropped locally-based players from his Warriors squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers next month.
The Croat had wanted to infuse some of the fringe players who did duty at the recent COSAFA Cup tournament in South Africa, into the main Warriors squad.
However, due to the inactivity of the local league due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, the Warriors squad will now be composed of foreign-based players only.
The Zimbabwe Premier Soccer League was suspended in June following a surge in coronavirus cases across the country.
Speaking to NewsDay on Thursday, national teams general manager Wellington Mupandare said:
These are some of the players who had impressed the coaches and stood a good chance had they not stopped playing. So the coaches left them out when coming up with the squad.
Logarušic, who is back in his native country to sort out some personal issues, is expected to name the squad next week.
Zimbabwe is scheduled to host Bafana Bafana at the National Sports Stadium between 1 and 4 September before travelling to Ethiopia four days later.