DHAKA: The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said on Wednesday that the upcoming tour by Afghanistan has been trimmed to avoid player “burnout” ahead of the Asia Cup and World Cup.

Afghanistan were scheduled to play two Tests, three One-day Internationals and three T20 Internationals when they tour Bangladesh in June.

But the board said the visitors would now play only one Test, three ODIs and two T20Is in two phases in June-July.

“They were keen to play all the matches. But we had to reduce some matches to save the players from burnout,” BCB cricket operations chief Jalal Yunus told AFP.

“This is a World Cup year, and we also have the Asia Cup coming. So we felt we needed to keep the players fresh.”

Afghanistan will play the Test from June 14 to 18, return home for the Eid al-Azha festival and then come back to complete the series in Chittagong and Sylhet by July 18.

They have so far played only one Test against Bangladesh, which they won by 224 runs in Chittagong in 2019.

The Asia Cup is due to be held in Pakistan in September and the World Cup in India the following month. It is unclear however whether India will travel to Pakistan and vice versa.

Published in Dawn, May 18th, 2023