Reports: Afghanistan U19 tour of Bangladesh to get rescheduled due to visa delays

The situation in Afghanistan has taken its toll on the country’s cricket team as well. Recently, the ODI series between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which was supposed to be played in Sri Lanka was rescheduled. Now, according to a report, the matches of the Afghanistan U-19 team tours of Bangladesh are also likely to be rescheduled. 

This delay has happened because the Afghanistan U-19 team is still waiting for a visa from Pakistan before they can take a flight to Dhaka. Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul in an attempt to seize power, there hasn’t been any commercial flight that has taken off from the city. 

Because of this, the Afghanistan team will now have to travel to Pakistan by bus, from where they can take a flight to Bangladesh. The visitors were expected to reach Dhaka on August 31 for their tour. They are supposed to play five U-19 one-day matches and one four-day first-class match in Sylhet. The series was scheduled to go till September 20. 

Bangladesh Cricket Board agrees to delay Afghanistan series

The media manager of the Afghanistan Cricket Board Hikmat Hassan spoke to Cricbuzz regarding the whole matter. ”There is no flight from Kabul. We are waiting for the Pakistan visa so that we can go there by bus and later come to Bangladesh by air,” Hikmat Hassan said. 

In the same report, it was also stated that Bangladesh Cricket Board has no issues with the delay. “We can always accommodate them (Afghanistan Under-19) even if they come within a week from their deadline as we don’t have any Under-19 program in September,” BCB game development manager AEM Kawser told Cricbuzz.

The Bangladesh U-19 team is the defending world champions having won the World Cup in South Africa in 2020. The 2022 edition is set to be in West Indies and BCB has been desperate to host some matches in preparation for their title defense. Most of their plans were paused due to the COVID pandemic. 

BCB had set a preparation camp for the U-19 Bangladesh team in Sylhet. The main aim of the camp was to get the players ready for the Afghanistan series. It was also stated that Bangladesh could play a tri-series in India later this year as another step of their preparations. The third team as of now has been rumored to be Sri Lanka, but nothing has been confirmed.