Bangladesh tour of Afghanistan 2024 rescheduled

The Bangladesh Cricket Board and the Afghanistan Cricket Board have just reached an agreement to reschedule the all-format series of the two teams after the ICC T20 World Cup in June. In July, the Bangla Tigers were scheduled to participate in an away series against Afghanistan in the United Arab Emirates. Nevertheless, following the latest board meeting, they will now engage in competition with each other at any given moment starting from July.

The confirmation of this situation was provided by Jalal Younis, the Operations Chairman of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, to Cricbuzz. According to Younis, the meeting with ACB was deemed productive, with few challenges encountered during the negotiations aimed at transitioning the all-format series. This event would have been the inaugural occasion in which Afghanistan hosted a series against Bangladesh. In the past, the Afghan national team was responsible for hosting ODIs, T20Is, and Tests in the country.

According to Jalal Younis, the Operations Chairman of BCB, the away series against Afghanistan will be rescheduled if both boards have reached an agreement to play the series at a different time, as reported by Cricbuzz.

What is the total number of Tests, ODIs, and T20Is that Bangladesh would have participated in versus Afghanistan?

Afghanistan, which exhibited a significantly superior performance in the last Cricket World Cup in comparison to their prior appearances, would have been the host country for a comprehensive series against Bangladesh. The next series would consist of two Test matches, three One-day matches, and three T20Is each fixture.

In the previous year, Bangladesh and Afghanistan engaged in a comparable all-format series during Bangladesh’s hosting of Afghanistan in June. The Bangla Tigers emerged triumphant in the singular Test match held in Mirpur, as a component of the ongoing World Test Championship cycle. Additionally, they secured win in the three-match T20I series with a decisive margin of 2-1.

The Afghan team emerged victorious in the 3-match ODI series with a 2-1 scoreline. Subsequently, they have encountered Bangladesh on two occasions, namely during the 50-over Asia Cup 2023 and the CWC in India. The Bangladeshi team emerged victorious in both the Asia Cup and Cricket World Cup matches against Afghanistan, securing a total of 89 runs and 6 wickets in the respective matches held in Lahore and Dharamshala.

Asians have only encountered each other on two occasions in the context of red-ball cricket. The initial occurrence of a Test match took place during the inaugural World Test Cricket (WTC) cycle, whereby Afghanistan emerged triumphant with a score of 224 runs in Chottogram. Subsequently, in the previous year, Bangladesh achieved an exceptional victory with a score of 546 runs in Mirpur.

The all-format series which has now been rescheduled, would have seen Bangladesh and Afghanistan lock horns against each other only for the 3rd time in the longest format.

Huge boost for Bangladesh as Shakib Al Hasan set to return
Meanwhile, the Bangla Tigers have been handed with a major boost as senior all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan is all set to return in action across all formats. Jalal Younis confirmed this development while speaking to Cricbuzz and also claimed that Shakib is a key figure in the team.

“He is ready to play in all the three formats in the coming days unless there is some fitness issues and that is good news for us considering his experience is very essential for our team,” Younis concluded.