Afghanistan seeks to extend home-base in India

Afghanistan cricket has grown leaps and bounds in the last decade or so with the national team producing some prodigious talents. However, owing to the abject state of internal security in the country, international cricket hasn’t got going, though first-class cricket has been played at the domestic level. To their relief, the Afghans have India as their base where they play their home matches.

Ever since 2015, India has been Afghanistan’s official home, Greater Noida was designated as their home base. Last year, the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Dehradun became the team’s second home ground when it played a T20I series against Bangladesh. Recently, the Afghans also played a T20I and ODI series followed by a one-off Test at the venue against the visiting Irish team.

Now, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) officials are set to meet their counterparts in the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to request that they are allowed to play in larger cities like Kolkata or Lucknow. Afghanistan is scheduled to host Windies in India for a T20I and ODI series in October and the board wants the fixtures to be hosted in a bigger city.

“We’re meeting BCCI on the 16th of this month, to request a change in our ground because around Dehradun, there’s no five-star hotel. Our upcoming bilateral series is against West Indies, and when we host a big team in India, they want five-star facilities,” ACB Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Asadullah Khan was quoted as saying in The Tribune.

Request for hosting Afghanistan Premier League in India

“In 2021, we have a triangular T20 series with Australia and West Indies. So for that too, we have to request BCCI to let us play in Kolkata or some other place where there are five-star hotels. Another request to BCCI would be to allow us to hold our APL (Afghanistan Premier League) in India,” Khan further mentioned.

“Lucknow would be the best place for us because there are five-star hotels there, and there are Afghan people living there too. Lucknow would suit us very much,” the CEO added.

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