Afghanistan Cricket Board confirms schedule for first-ever white-ball tour of India

The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has confirmed the itinerary of Afghanistan's historic tour of India. Afghanistan are slated to tour India in January 2024, for their first-ever white-ball series against the Men in Blue. The two sides will battle against each other in a three-match T20I series starting January 11 at the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali.

Notably, India and Afghanistan have only crossed paths with each other during ACC (Asian Cricket Council) and ICC (International Cricket Council) events in white-ball cricket. Hence, the upcoming series in January will mark the beginning of bilateral cricketing relations between the two countries from the white-ball point of view.

Though the two teams haven't played a white-ball game against each other in a bilateral series, they have wrestled arms in the red-ball format already. In a standalone Test in Bengaluru at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in June 2018, the then-Asghar Afghan-led Afghanistan had crossed swords with



India.

India were led by Ajinkya Rahane in the absence of Virat Kohli and had thoroughly dominated the fixture, ultimately winning it by an innings and 262 runs. The hosts had posted a mammoth total of 474 runs with the help of twin centuries by openers Shikhar Dhawan (107) and Murali Vijay (105).

In response, the touring party folded for scores of 109 and 103 in the first and the second innings respectively. Right-arm off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin dazzled with the ball as he claimed figures of 4/27 in the first innings whereas his partner in crime slow left-arm orthodox bowler Ravindra Jadeja bagged 4/17 in the second innings to help India claim victory with ease.

Afghanistan's T20I tour of India (2024):

Date Jan 11 Match 1st T20I Venue IS Bindra Stadium Mohali

Date Jan 14 Match 2nd T20I Venue Holkar Stadium, Indore

Date Jan 17 3rd T20I Venue M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru