Tigers to play 150 matches

Bangladesh national cricket team will remain busy for the next four years as the upcoming 2023-27 cycle of ICC’s Future Tour Program is offering 150 international matches for the Tigers. ICC revealed the Men’s Future Tours Program for the next cycle on Wednesday, which features a greater number of matches than the current cycle.

While the ICC announced the confirmation of the tours, it is up to the members to decide the exact dates and fixtures for the tours.

Bangladesh is scheduled to play the maximum number of matches across all three formats in the next cycle with a total of 150 matches, including 34 Tests, 59 ODIs, and 57 T20Is.

Tigers are scheduled to tour Ireland in June 2023 and will host Afghanistan for a complete series in the same month, including two Tests, three One-Day Internationals, and three Twenty20 Internationals.

Following the conclusion of 2023, the Tigers will host Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe from February to April before taking on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India in away Tests mid-year 2024.

A home Test series against South Africa and an away full tour of the West Indies (two Tests, three ODIS, and three T20Is) are part of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC) 2023-25 while the 2025-27 WTC finishes off for them with a challenging home series against England and an away series in Australia.

Bangladesh will play New Zealand, South Africa, and Sri Lanka at home, and will tour India, Pakistan and the West Indies in the 2023-25 WTC.

In the 2025-27 cycle, the Tigers will take on England, Pakistan, and the West Indies at home, and are scheduled to play Australia, South Africa, and Sri Lanka away.

Bangladesh Cricket Board Chief Executive Nizam Uddin Chowdhury embraced the increased number of matches saying that it is pleasing for the country.

“The 2023-2027 FTP is very pleasing for Bangladesh. We have received a healthy share of matches against members across formats. This FTP is also a credit to the efforts of the ICC scheduling team and the member Boards and the cooperation between the stakeholders,” he said.

“The BCB believes that the FTP should be based on the principle of fair distribution of matches for all teams and from that aspect, we are happy that the new FTP promises us a greater number of days of international cricket compared to the previous cycle,” he added.

The upcoming cycle of the FTP

also features five major ICC events, starting with the Cricket World Cup next year in India.

West Indies and the USA will host the T20 World Cup in 2024, which will be followed by the return of the Champions Trophy in 2025 to be hosted by Pakistan.

India and Sri Lanka will jointly host the T20 World Cup in 2026 and the FTP cycle will be rounded off by the Cricket World Cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia in 2027.