Indian Cricket will host the Afghanistan cricket team for the first-ever bilateral series between the two nations in January next year, according to a report by Reuters. The three-game series will take place in Mohali, Indore, and Bengaluru. Afghanistan has emerged to be a strong opponent, rising from associate cricket to having qualified for the Champions Trophy, in 2025.
Team India will try to get over its defeat in the final of the Cricket World Cup at home, after dominating the entire World Cup, and prepare for the T20 World Cup, set to be played in the United States and West Indies next year. The team starts its preparations with a five-game bilateral T20 series against Australia on November 24.
Rise of Afghanistan
Afghanistan, once minnows of the game, produced a stellar performance in the World Cup, winning four games in the group stage after upsetting the highly-rated Pakistan, England, and Sri Lanka. The team had put Australia in a position of worry after taking seven wickets for just 91 runs after setting a target of 292 for the World Cup winners. The team finished sixth with equal points to Pakistan, only lagging in the net run rate.
Afghanistan Cricket has developed from gaining the affiliate membership of ICC in 2001 to getting an associate nation’s status in 2013, and now qualifying for the World Championship 2025, defeating former World Cup winners Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and England in the World Cup.
New format of T20 World Cup
The T20 World Cup will be a 20-team competition for the first time, including two hosts, the USA and West Indies, the top eight teams of the previous World T20 edition, two teams qualifying based on world rankings, i.e., Afghanistan and Bangladesh, two Europe qualifiers: Scotland and Ireland, East Asia & Pacific qualifier Papua New Guinea, Americas qualifier Canada, and Asia qualifier Nepal and Oman. The two teams from Africa will be determined by next Wednesday.