As India series stands on hold, BCB mulls at overseas tour in vacant August window

The Bangladesh Cricket Board is on the lookout for opportunities for Bangladesh to play an away series in the vacant August window of this year. This comes following the postponement of Bangladesh's home series against India from August 2025 to September 2026 amidst political tensions between the two nations.

This particular decision was communicated by the Chairperson of Cricket Operations Najmul Abedeen Fahim on Wednesday, July 16. He also discussed what the administrative body was previously thinking for the national team as compared to their current plans for them.

“For that period, we were thinking of playing matches internally, since previously we had the 'A' team playing against the national side. That was part of a previous plan. Right now, we are thinking of whether we can play against another team or play outside the country for a limited time. If it doesn't happen, then we will play matches internally,” Fahim said in a BCB statement.

The operations head was also questioned with respect to the captaincy of Bangladesh's red-ball unit following the resignation of Najmul Hossain Shanto from the post. Notably, Mehidy Hasan Miraz is among the frontrunners to take over the duties in the longest format of the game, after doing so in the One-Day Internationals as well in the recent past. The board did not want to coerce Fahim into taking a decision and would rather respect his call.

“No. Actually, even previously, there was adequate communication with him [Shanto]. I feel that both Shanto and us [board] are clear about what happened. Definitely, we wanted him to continue but since he has taken a decision, we have respect for that,” added Fahim.

The stepping down of Shanto from the captaincy of the Test side led to quite a few questions being stirred in relation to the efficiency and effectiveness of various departments in connection with cricket operations. It was previously reported that Shanto was not of the opinion of having three different captains for the three formats, as Litton Das was recently named the T20I skipper.

For the unversed, Fahim had even flown to Sri Lanka during the second Test of the two-match series to discuss the entire matter with Shanto in person. However, the then-captain eventually called his time on Test captaincy during a press conference held post the Colombo Test, with Shanto feeling it would be the right time for him to step away.