After nearly sixteen years, international youth cricket is set to make its long-awaited return to Bogura’s Shaheed Chandu Stadium, with Bangladesh U-19 taking on Afghanistan Under-19 in the opening match of a five-match youth ODI series on 28 October.
The Bangladesh national team may have endured a whitewash against Afghanistan in the recent ODI series in the UAE, but the nation’s young cricketers will now look to redeem pride against the same opposition on home soil. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced on Thursday that the series will be held across two northern venues Bogura and Rajshahi.
The Afghan contingent will arrive in Dhaka on 20 October before heading straight to Bogura, where the first two ODIs are scheduled for 28 and 31 October.
This marks a significant moment for Bogura cricket, which last hosted an international age-level fixture on 20 november 2009, when a Bangladesh U-19 side featuring Enamul Haque, Mominul Haque and Sabbir Rahman faced Zimbabwe U-19. The last appearance of a foreign team in the city came in May 2010, when the BCB Academy played two 50-over matches against the CSA Academy at the same venue.
The remaining three matches of the current series will be played at the Rajshahi Divisional Stadium on 3, 6 and 9 November. Afghanistan U-19 are scheduled to depart Bangladesh on 10 November following the conclusion of the series.
Series schedule:
1st Youth ODI – 28 October (Tuesday), Bogura
2nd Youth ODI – 31 October (Friday), Bogura
3rd Youth ODI – 3 November (Monday), Rajshahi
4th Youth ODI – 6 November (Thursday), Rajshahi
5th Youth ODI – 9 November (Sunday), Rajshahi
This will be Afghanistan U-19’s fifth tour of Bangladesh. Their first visit came in 2016 for the ICC Under-19 World Cup, followed by returns for bilateral series in 2017 and 2021, and participation in the 2018 Under-19 Asia Cup.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Under-19 team are currently in Rajshahi conducting an intensive training camp in preparation for the series.
