England and South Africa to face Bangladesh in proposed ODI league

The proposed schedule of the ICC ODI league 2020-2021 shows that 13 nations including Bangladesh will play eight series each. Bangladeshi team will play the top ODI teams England, South Africa and New Zealand in the league. Apart from these top teams in ODI cricket, Bangladesh will face West Indies, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe as well as the two latest Full Members Afghanistan and Ireland.

In two years, the teams will play four series at home and four series away. In 2020, Bangladesh will host England and Afghanistan before touring to Ireland and New Zealand later that year. The following year, West Indies and Sri Lanka will visit Bangladesh. Bangladesh’s league will end with tours against South Africa and Zimbabwe.

ICC Points System

To count the points, ICC has decided to set the number of matches to three per series. If the teams wish to extend the number of games in the series, they have the freedom to do so while the points for the additional matches won’t be counted for the league.

ODI League

Plans are well in place to create a new league for all the Test playing nations including the newly awarded Afghanistan team and Ireland. It is expected that the proposals will give ODI cricket a new context and sense of purpose, amid fears that the format fits awkwardly between Test and Twenty20 cricket, insufficiently loved either by traditionalists or newer fans.

Along with the ODI league, ICC has also proposed a Test league and as per the schedule for the longer format Bangladesh will be playing against all the teams that play Test cricket.

Bangladesh cricket’s development

Bangladesh has been one of the most improved sides in the world cricket since the 2015 World Cup. They defeated New Zealand twice in their last two meetings, the second of which helped them qualify for the semi-finals of the recently concluded ICC Champions Trophy 2017.