Afghanistan set to play first full series against West Indies

Afghanistan are set to play their first full series against West Indies, travelling to the Caribbean in June 2017 for five ODIs and three T20Is. It will be Afghanistan’s first full series against a Full Member other than Zimbabwe.

The specific dates of the tour are yet to be announced, although a press release from the Afghanistan Cricket Board mentioned the tour would begin in mid-June.

Afghanistan have played only two full series against Full Members previously. The first was when they visited Zimbabwe for five ODIs and two T20Is in October 2015; then, they recorded their first series win over a Full Member. In the return series, two months later, hosted by Afghanistan in the UAE, they beat Zimbabwe in both formats again and broke into the top 10 of the ODI rankings for the first time.

Chairman Nasimullah Danish welcomed the series, saying: “Playing with Twenty20 champions will boost technical prospects for us.” WICB chief executive Michael Muirhead was happy to have more games on the calendar. “This series will add to the variety of cricket our teams will be playing for the next year and we are happy to be able to have teams visit the region to add exposure for all our players,” Muirhead said.

Most recently, Afghanistan met West Indies in the Super 10 stage of the World T20 in March and beat them by six runs. (ESPNCricinfo)

Photo caption: Afghanistan will play their maiden bilateral series in the Caribbean in June 2017