The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) officials and the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) officials met in Delhi on Tuesday (January 16) to announce the date and venue of the inaugural Test match of Afghanistan. Mark this day down in cricket history!
The Indian board, BCCI, agreed to host Afghanistan to mark their debut Test match in December last year (2017). Amitabh Choudhary, the BCCI’s acting secretary in December 2017 said this:
“Afghanistan were scheduled to play their first Test in 2019 against Australia but considering the historic relationship between India and Afghanistan, we decided to host their first Test.”
Afghanistan and Ireland were inducted as full member nations by ICC in June 2017 and Afghanistan are now set to play their first ever Test match exactly after a year – in June 2018. This historic Test match will be played between India and Afghanistan between June 14-18, 2018 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Afghanistan will play a warm-up match before this historic Test, the details of which are yet to be announced.
Pakistan in 1952 (lost to India by an innings and 70 runs), Zimbabwe in 1992 (drawn match) and Bangladesh in 2000 (lost to India by 9 wickets) are the teams till date to play their maiden Test matches against India. Afghanistan will be the fourth team to join this list when the date (June 14, 2018) finally arrives, and India should be able to maintain this unbeaten streak 😛
Afghanistan achieved their full ODI status in the year 2011 and kept on rising in the shorter formats since then. Though they failed to test for the 2011 World Cup in India, they impressed everyone in the World Cup in Australia 4 years later!
NEWS ALERT – BCCI and @ACBofficials announce historic India vs Afghanistan Test from June 14, 2018, in Bengaluru @RJohri @MashalAtif @ShafiqStanikzai pic.twitter.com/5lvwNj0xsj
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 16, 2018
Afghanistan came into the limelight with their impressive win in an ODI against Bangladesh in the 2014 Asia Cup in Fatullah, by a healthy margin of 32 runs. Most recently, West Indies faced a 63-run defeat in an ODI at the hands of Afghanistan as well!
This historic Test match against India could turn out to be a nightmarish start for Afghanistan in the longest format as it will be the monsoon season in India and there are chances of this match getting washed out too. However, Amitabh Choudhary has confirmed that Bengaluru has been chosen over other venues keeping all parameters in mind. Click here to watch the announcement made by the BCCI and ACB officials in Delhi.
