Afghanistan to host Bangladesh for white-ball series at Greater Noida in July

Afghanistan will return to Shahid Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex in Greater Noida after four years for its limited-overs home series against Bangladesh in July.

According to the tentative itinerary, which  Sportstar has seen, the two teams will feature in three ODIs and as many T20Is between July 25 and August 6. The Bangladesh team is scheduled to arrive in Greater Noida via New Delhi on July 22 and will have a couple of days’ training session before playing its first ODI. While there will be a one-day gap between the One-dayers, the T20I series will be played under lights from August 2.

The Greater Noida venue, which once upon a time was the home base for the Afghanistan team, last hosted an international fixture in March 2020, barely a few days before a nationwide lockdown was announced due to COVID-19. Ever since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Afghanistan team played its ‘home’ games mostly in the United Arab Emirates. However, on the sidelines of the ODI World Cup last year, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) officials initiated discussions with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and expressed their keenness on playing its home games in India again.

“We have closely worked with the BCCI to resume our hosting agreement, making this series possible after a long break,” Naseeb Khan, the CEO of ACB, told Sportstar.

“The BCCI has allotted us two grounds – one in Kanpur and the other in Greater Noida. Since we have played at Greater Noida in the past, we decided to host the series against Bangladesh there,” Khan addded.

While the ACB officials are looking at a few other grounds in India as well, for now, they have signed a contract with the BCCI for Greater Noida and Kanpur facilities.

“Moving forward, the ACB plans to host more events at various grounds across India, including Greater Noida,” Khan said, adding that proximity to New Delhi and keeping other logistical advantages in mind, the ACB decided to host Bangladesh at Greater Noida.

Back in December 2015, the BCCI and ACB had signed a long-term Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority, which allowed the Afghans to host its international matches in its facility. However, after attaining full-membership status from the International Cricket Council in 2017, Afghanistan shifted its home base to Dehradun and even played a few series there, but it turned out to be a logistical nightmare for the Board, forcing them to relocate to the Ekana Stadium in Lucknow in 2019. Afghanistan played a limited-overs series and a lone Test against the West Indies in Lucknow before moving to the tried and tested Greater Noida facility.