Afghanistan set for maiden Caribbean tour

Afghanistan is set to play their first ever bilateral series against the West Indies in June. Both the teams will play 3 T20Is, all scheduled to be played at the Warner Park in St Kitts; and as many One Day Internationals, at the Darren Sammy International Stadium in St Lucia.

Afghanistan has taken giant rapid strides in the international arena, where they have surprised big teams; the most recent one being Ireland, who lost both T20 as well as the ODI series to the Asian minnows. They have the talent to perform at the highest level and have played some entertaining as well as gutsy cricket, over the last couple of years.

Interestingly, Afghanistan have played West Indies once in the 2016 T20 World Cup – where they beat the World Champions by 6 runs. A bilateral series against one of the Test playing nations will give the Afghanis the much-needed fillip. They have shown that they are on the way up as far as their cricket is concerned and there is no reason why they cannot compete with bigger teams.

West Indies, on the other hand, haven’t had the best of times in limited-overs cricket. They have lost 6 limited-overs games on the bounce and are in a middle of a 4-match T20 series against Pakistan, which they trail by 0-1. They are scheduled to host 3 tests and ODI’s each before they host Afghanistan.

“We are looking forward to welcoming the Afghans to the Caribbean for this short series,” said WICB manager of cricket operations Roland Holder. “The series promises to be compelling, considering the result of the match between the two sides at the last ICC World Twenty20 in India, and Afghanistan’s gradual improvement over the last few years.”

West Indies are looking to improve their limited-overs fortunes. They struggled to qualify for the Champions Trophy scheduled to be held in England in June this year and the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) now wants to start preparing for the 2019 ICC Word Cup.

“It will also be an important series for our side, as they look to move up in the ICC World Rankings in the two formats, and continue their quest to qualify for the 2019 ICC World Cup in England and Wales.”

Both sides will have a lot to play for in the proposed series. West Indies will be under pressure, for a defeat here, will jolt their confidence further.