Afghanistan tour of Bangladesh trimmed to avoid ‘burnout’

Afghanistan was scheduled to play two Tests, three One-Day internationals, and three Twenty20 internationals against Bangladesh in June.

FILE PHOTO: Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan in action as Afghanistan’s Ikram Alikhil looks on during the 2019 ODI World Cup. | Photo Credit: Action Images via Reuters/John Sibley

Bangladesh’s cricket board said on Wednesday that the upcoming tour by Afghanistan has been trimmed to avoid player “burnout” ahead of the Asia Cup and World Cup.

Afghanistan was scheduled to play two Tests, three One-Day internationals, and three Twenty20 internationals against Bangladesh in June.

But the board said the visitor would now play only one Test, three ODIs and two T20Is in two phases in June and July.

“They were keen to play all the matches. But we had to reduce some matches to save the players from burnout,” cricket operations chief Jalal Yunus told AFP.

“This is a World Cup year, and we also have the Asia Cup coming. So we felt we needed to keep the players fresh,” he said.

Afghanistan will play the Test from June 14 to 18, return home for the Eid al-Adha festival and then come back to complete the series in Chittagong and Sylhet by July 18.

It has so far played only one Test against Bangladesh, which it won by 224 runs in Chittagong in 2019.

The Asia Cup is due to be held in Pakistan in September and the World Cup in India the following month. It is unclear, however, whether India will travel to Pakistan and vice versa.