Zimbabwe to tour Bangladesh in November

Zimbabwe will play two Tests against Bangladesh in November

Zimbabwe Cricket has announced that it will play the two-Test series against Bangladesh, originally scheduled to be held in January 2016, in November this year, ESPNCricinfo reports. The dates for the matches will be confirmed when the authorities of the two cricket boards meet later this week during the ICC meeting in Dubai.

The Bangladesh cricket team were left with no international cricket for the remainder of the year after Cricket Australia postponed their scheduled tour of Bangladesh for a two-Test series indefinitely, after initially holding back the team’s departure, following security concerns.

Following the decision by CA, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) chief Nazmul Hassan had expressed disappointment about the cancellation of the series and reiterated that the Asian country would be able to handle any security threat, if any.

"The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is disappointed at the decision of Cricket Australia (CA) to postpone the Test series in Bangladesh on ‘security’ grounds. The BCB does not agree with the view that Bangladesh is at the moment unsafe for hosting the series against Australia. On the contrary, the Board is of the opinion that Bangladesh at present offers one of the safest environments for holding international sporting events including cricket,” the statement by the BCB read, as reported by cricket.com.au.

Hot on the heels of the decision taken by CA, South Africa Cricket had suspended their women cricket team’s tour to Bangladesh. However, Nazmul Hassan confirmed that Zimbabwe has tentatively agreed to step in and play the Test leg of the tour in November. The African nation were originally scheduled to visit Bangladesh from January 11 for two Tests, three one-day internationals, and three Twenty20 internationals and conclude their tour on February 7.

"They have principally agreed to play in November," Hassan said. "We haven't decided on the schedule yet, but we will discuss it in the ICC meeting. The three-match ODI series and two T20s that were scheduled in the Zimbabwe tour will now be played in January."

Zimbabwe have a busy schedule ahead with the team set to take on Ireland in a three-match ODI series, with the first match to be played on Friday. Following the conclusion of that series on October 13, they will host Afghanistan for a series comprising of five ODIs and 3 T20s which will finish on October 29.

With the third edition of the Bangladesh Premier League set to start on November 21 or 22, the two Test matches as well as a three-day practice match for the visitors will have to be squeezed in between those twenty odd days at the start of the next month.