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Afghanistan to tour West Indies in 2017 for 5 ODIs, 3 T20Is

This will be the first bilateral series between the two nation, and will take place in the month of June.

Afghanistan beat West Indies when the two teams met in the ICC T20 World Cup 2016 © Getty Images
Afghanistan beat West Indies when the two teams met in the ICC T20 World Cup 2016 © Getty Images

Afghanistan cricket have received a huge boost in their aspiration of progressing as a cricketing nation, after a tour of West Indies in 2017 was confirmed. This will be the first bilateral series between the two nation, and will take place in the month of June. The last time these two teams met was in the ICC T20 World Cup 2016 ‘Super 10’ stage. Against all the odds, Afghanistan managed to beat the superior West Indies side, who later went onto win the tournament. It comes as a timely boost for the Afghans, who also managed to schedule a bilateral series against Ireland in March 2017, to be held in India. ALSO READ: Afghanistan, Ireland set to face each other in ODI, T20I series in India

Shafiq Stanikzai, chief executive of Afghanistan Cricket Board, was quoted by cricbuzz as saying, “This is a major series with very attractive teams featuring some of the world’s best players. We look forward to some very entertaining cricket in T20 and ODI. On behalf of Afghanistan Cricket Board, I am very thankful to West Indies Cricket Board for agreeing to be hosts for the series.”

West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) CEO Michael Muirhead was also delighted about the prospect of hosting Afghanistan. “This series will add to the variety of cricket our teams will be playing for the next year and we are happy to be able to have teams visit the region to add exposure for all our players.”

Afghanistan cricket have grown significantly in the past few years. They beat Zimbabwe in their bilateral series, winning both the ODI and T20I series. Next, they put up a impressive show in the ICC T20 World Cup 2016. Since then, they toured Scotland for two-match ODI series, winning it 1-0. They recently ended their tour of Ireland, and managed to draw the five-ODI series 2-2.

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