(Last Updated on October 22, 2015 by Editor)
Zimbabwe will play three ODIs and two T20Is in Bangladesh in the first two weeks of November, the BCB announced on Wednesday. All matches of the tour will be held at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.
This will be the first international series to be held in Bangladesh since Australia postponed thier two-test tour on October 1 due to security concerns. South Africa’s women’s team had also temporarily delayed their arrival for a series, but BCB president Nazmul Hassan confirmed that they will arrive on November 3 to play three ODIs and four T20s against the Bangladesh women’s team in Cox’s Bazar.
Zimbabwe, who are slated to arrive on November 2, will play a practice match in Fatullah on November 5. The ODIs against Bangladesh will be held on November 7, 9 and 11 while the two T20Is will be held on November 13 and 15.
Bangladesh’s limited overs captain Mashrafe Mortaza welcomed the series, as it cut down their ODI hiatus from six months to four. Bangladesh’s last ODI assignment was against South Africa in mid-July this year.
“We have been playing well in ODIs this year but a long break would have hurt our consistency,” Mashrafe said. “It would have been tough to hold on to the good form. So in that sense, this ODI series will really help us as it cuts down on the break. We know Zimbabwe well and we have a good record against them. I am hoping that we can hold on to our winning consistency. To be honest, I would have been happy if the Australia series took place but it wasn’t in our hands. I thank both boards for organising this series so quickly.”
BCB had earlier announced that the two-Test series against Zimbabwe, which was also in the initial tour programme, will now take place in January next year when the whole series was originally scheduled.
ESPNcricinfo has also learned that the BCB had been in talks with the WICB regarding a T20I tri-series (Bangladesh, West Indies and Zimbabwe) after the ODI series against Zimbabwe, but the talks fell through.
Bangladesh will also host Zimbabwe Under-19 in Chittagong in November, while the Bangladesh A side will tour Zimbabwe for a limited-overs series during the same window.