After West Indies confirmed their intention to tour Bangladesh for ODIs and Tests in 2021, we answer – when is Bangladesh’s next match?
It’s been a difficult year for cricket fans in Bangladesh.
The Tigers kicked off 2020 with an unsuccessful tour of Pakistan, losing a T20I series and a one-off Test in January.
They then returned home and hammered Zimbabwe in a one-off Test as well as in ODIs and T20Is across February and March.
Since then, though, they haven’t played a single international fixture, with the global health crisis causing major disruption to their schedule.
When is Bangladesh’s next match?
However, things are finally beginning to look up. The Bangabandhu T20 Cup is currently in progress and agreements are in place for the return of international cricket.
A white-ball tour of New Zealand in March has already been confirmed but Bangladesh’s next match will actually come much sooner than that.
That’s because, following an inspection of the protocols in place at venues in Dhaka and Chittagong, the West Indies have agreed to tour the country in January [Reuters].
It will be a third overseas tour for the Windies in around six months, following their trips to England and New Zealand.
According to a draft schedule published by the ICC, a three-match ODI series will begin in Dhaka on 20 January, with what will be Bangladesh’s first international fixture for over ten months.
The second ODI will be held at the same venue on 22 January before the squads move to Chittagong for the final match on 25 January.
A two-match Test series will then be played as part of the ICC Test Championship, with the first beginning in Chittagong on 3 February and the second in Dhaka on 11 February.
Bangladesh are currently ninth in the ICC Test rankings, while West Indies sit eighth and were recently hammered by an innings in consecutive Tests in New Zealand.