Preparations to host Afghan U-19 still on: BCB CEO

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is going ahead with its preparations for the Afghanistan Under-19 side's tour of the country for five one-dayers and one four-day match against Bangladesh Under-19, scheduled to be played in Sylhet from September 5, despite the recent Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. 

"There haven't been any changes in the plans so far. However, we [BCB] are in close contact with the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB). We are going ahead with all our logistic and administrative arrangements as planned. But, we can't say anything without getting any confirmation from their board," informed BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury to The Daily Star today. 

BCB game development manager Abu Emam Mohammad Kawsar also mentioned that the ACB is 'confident' to play the series as per the original schedule. 

"ACB mentioned it is confident to go ahead with the series as per the schedule," said Kawsar today.

"Even if for some reason they fail to send their team on time, we [BCB] are in a position to change the schedule a bit in order to accommodate the Afghanistan Under-19 side," added Kawsar. 

Bangladesh Under-19 were scheduled to begin their camp for their upcoming series in Sylhet from today. However, the start of the camp has been pushed back to August 19, but the BCB's game development manager mentioned it had nothing to do with the critical situation in Afghanistan. 

"No, it has nothing to do with it [unrest in Afghanistan]. We just delayed the start of the camp because we think the Under-19 side will have enough time for preparation as the series is scheduled to start on September 5. So, we would still get about two weeks of time for preparation.

"Also, the players would have to stay in the bio-bubble for about 15 days even during the series, making their total stay inside bubble for around 40 days. So, considering the bubble stress, we did not want to prolong their stay in the bubble more than needed," said Kawsar. 

The Afghanistan contingent is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on August 31 and will later travel to Sylhet via a connecting flight. All the matches of the series are scheduled to take place in Sylhet. 

This is the Under-19 side's first assignment since the previous batch led by Akbar Ali won the Under-19 World Cup by beating India in Potchefstroom in February 2020.