No Test against Zimbabwe

There will not be any Test match against Zimbabwe in the upcoming tour, where Bangladesh will only play three One-Day Internationals and Twenty20 Internationals, said the Bangladesh Cricket Board CEO.

Zimbabwe is not part of the ICC World Test Championship despite holding Test status. Last year, Bangladesh toured Zimbabwe and played a Test, but this time it won’t happen.

“We have almost finalised a schedule after talking to the Zimbabwe Cricket Officials. As they are the host authority, they will announce the fixtures, which will be done shortly. Bangladesh will play three ODIs and three T20Is,” the CEO, Nizamuddin Chowdhury, told the media on Tuesday.

“The cricketers will leave for Zimbabwe at the end of July. Within August, they will play the matches and come back home,” added the BCB CEO.

The white-ball cricketers are now in Guyana as a part of their Caribbean tour. The last match of the tour will take place on July 16.

That means the Tigers will have very little time to prepare for the Zimbabwe tour, though the BCB officials have hinted they will spare some of the regular cricketers and give chances to fringe players as the ODI series is not part of the ODI Super League.

“Soon we will discuss with the cricket operations, team management, senior players, and concerned BCB officials and chalk out the schedule till the Asia Cup,” said Nizamuddin to the reporters.

Uncertainty formed regarding Asia Cup as the host nation Sri Lanka is going through a financial crisis, but Nizamuddin told the reporters that recent developments show glimpses of hope, “The final decision will come from Asian Cricket Council. So far, I know, Sri Lanka is the host. Recently they are hosting Australia. Maybe they have overcome the hosting challenges. We are hopeful that the tournament will take place in due time,” he told the reporters.