Afghanistan likely to host Australia and West Indies in the Middle East before the T20 World Cup

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) confirmed that they are likely to host a tri-series involving Australia and the West Indies in the Middle East. The matches are scheduled to take place in the first week of October either in Qatar or the UAE.

The tri-series hosted by Afghanistan will occur right before the T20 World Cup 2021 if things go according to plan. The ICC event hosted by the UAE and Oman is scheduled to run from October 17.

ACB CEO Hamid Shinwari confirmed to ESPNCricinfo that the series has been confirmed but the venue is yet to be finalized.

“Our team will be traveling abroad to play the tri-series, hopefully, and that we could accommodate two important nations, Australia and the West Indies. We are planning to conduct this series in one of the Arab countries, maybe in Qatar or the UAE. It still hasn't been decided. The series is confirmed given that a venue is available," said Shinwari.

Shinwari added that the current management is supportive and the Afghanistan team will play a one-off Test against Australia in November as scheduled.

“We have support for cricket from the management. After the T20 World Cup, we are going to Australia to play a one-off Test match. Talks with Cricket Australia are in the pipeline. After the World Cup, the team will be heading there," said Shinwari.

The first-ever Test between Afghanistan and Australia is scheduled to take place at Hobart from November 27.

A T20 match was held at the #Kabul Cricket Stadium between two teams of national level players watched by a cheering crowd of 4000 spectators. This was a first cricket event after the Taliban takeover. Both the old national flag & Taliban’s flag were displayed at the venue.(Jang)

— Abdul Majeed Khan Marwat (@koolkopper) September 4, 2021

This will be the first international outing for Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover in the country

The tri-series will clash with the second leg of the IPL.

Here is the list of all T20 World Cup super over in all editions so far, watch them here.

The ICC and other cricketing bodies have been watching the developments in Afghanistan closely due to the political situation in the country. There has been uncertainty surrounding the cricket schedule ever since the Taliban took control of the country last month.

The scheduled tri-series will be the first international outing for the Afghanistan national side after this development. It will be a big step in the positive direction for cricket in the nation if the series goes through as planned.

The tri-series will clash with IPL 2021 however, so we will likely see a second string West Indies side take part and first team players without an IPL deal (Fletcher, Hayden JR, McCoy etc)Wouldn't be surprised if Rampaul gets called up for this series 👀

— Caribbean Cricket Podcast (@CaribCricket) September 4, 2021

However, the dates will clash with the second leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Many star players from the three teams may miss out on the series due to their commitments to their IPL franchises.