Afghanistan are reportedly set to host New Zealand in a one-off Test match at the Shaheed Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex, Greater Noida, India, in September of this year. This will be the first time when the Afghanistan cricket team will play New Zealand in Tests, aiming to make progress in the longest format of the game.
Notably, Australia refused to play Afghanistan in bilateral cricket for the third time recently, due to the restriction on female participation in the sport in the country after the Taliban took over in 2021. But their Trans-Tasman neighbours New Zealand have a different stance on the issue, according to the report from the Times of India.
A fghanistan to play New Zealand for first time in Test match: Reports
Following their one-off Test match against Afghanistan in a couple of months, New Zealand will face India in a three-match Test series starting on October 16. These three Test matches will be played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, the MCA Stadium, in Pune, and the Wankhede Stadium, in Mumbai.
Moreover, Afghanistan were supposed to play a series against Bangladesh in all formats this July in Greater Noida. But, it got postponed at a later date due to “extreme heat” in the Northern part of India this month.
It was previously reported that the BCCI has allotted three home venues for the Afghanistan cricket team in Greater Noida, Kanpur, and Lucknow. They were the first cricket board to support Afghanistan after the Taliban took over in 2021.