DHAKA -The Bangladesh Under-19 team is likely to return to cricket in next February when Afghanistan will host them in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
They are supposed to start cricket by taking part at the Under-19 Asia Cup, scheduled to be held in this November in the UAE but the tournament got postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The tournament for which Bangladesh started practicing will now be held in 2021 at a convenient time.
The Afghans will host Bangladesh in the UAE for five one-day matches in February. So, they have to wait for four more months.
In the meantime, the team will take part in regular camps, practice and friendly matches.
“We’ll play against Afghanistan in the UAE in February,” confirmed AEM Kawsar, the BCB’s game development manager. “They will give us hospitality. I don’t see the opportunity to host the series at home at the moment.”
Thanks to Akbar and Co. Bangladesh has won the ICC Under-19 World Cup this year. Shortly after the end of the World Cup, the BCB started forming new teams but due to the Covid-19 situation, all activities have to be stopped for five months.
Thereafter the camp started with 45 cricketers in August. After a month of camp, 25 cricketers were selected from the preliminary team. These 25 cricketers currently have been practicing in BKSP.
The camp, which started on October 1, will continue till the end of this month. The team’s foreign coaching staff has already joined the camp this time. Trainer Richard Stonier is working with coach Naved Nawaz. For now, practice and intra-squad matches are the only hope for young cricketers.BSS
