Bangladesh to host Afghanistan and Zimbabwe for a T20I tri-series in September

Afghanistan were scheduled to tour Bangladesh for a one-off Test and two T20 Internationals later this year. But the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) and Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) have replaced it with a T20I tri-series. The third team to participate in the competition is Zimbabwe as the tournament will commence on September 14. While Bangladesh is set to host the tri-series the timings and the venue are yet to be finalised.

With the T20 World Cup set to be played in October next year, most of the teams are trying to play more short-format matches after the 50-over World Cup. Afghanistan have directly qualified for the Super 12s round as they were ranked seventh when the cut-off date for the qualification arrived. Bangladesh, on the other hand, will have to play group stages to get to the Super 12 as they were ranked 10th at the same time.

Afghanistan to play Zimbabwe in the opener

Though Bangladesh are the hosts, two away teams, Afghanistan and Zimbabwe will play the first match of the tri-series on September 14 according to TOLO News. There is a quick turnaround for the Afghans as they face the Tigers on the very next day. Every team will play four matches in the group stage before the final scheduled to be played on September 23.

Interestingly, if Afghanistan don’t play any T20Is until this series, this will be the first assignment for Rashid Khan as the team’s official captain. Ahead of the ongoing World Cup, the ACB had employed for split captaincy in all three formats. They axed Asghar Afghan from the helm and appointed Rashid as the leader of the pack in the shortest form of the game. Rahmat Shah and Gulbadin Naib were named the Test and ODI skippers respectively.

Afghanistan, meanwhile, will be aiming to continue their good record in T20Is over Bangladesh and Zimbabwe and gain confidence in the lead up to the T20 World Cup.