July 31, 2024, Kabul – The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has officially announced that it will play three One Day International (ODI) matches in the United Arab Emirates from September 18–22, hosting South Africa.
The first-ever bilateral cricket series between the two nations, hosted by Afghanistan, will consist of three One-Day International matches.
The Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the United Arab Emirates will host the first One-Day International (ODI) on September 18 and the second and third ODIs on September 20 and 22, respectively.
On September 14, the South African national team is scheduled to land in the United Arab Emirates. On the same day, the Afghanistan National Team will leave Delhi for the United Arab Emirates after their one-off Test match against New Zealand, which is slated to take place in Greater Noida, India, from September 9 to September 13.
The announcement of the series delighted ACB Chairman Mr. Mirwais Ashraf, who said, “The recent ICC meeting was quite productive for us.” We have an agreement with Cricket South Africa for a set of three One-Day Internationals (ODIs) to be played in September, in addition to establishing the dates for the one-off Test match against New Zealand.
At first, these fixtures weren’t included in our FTP. Nevertheless, we came to the agreement that we would host the Proteas for an ODI series in September after having fruitful discussions with our counterparts at Cricket South Africa. They are a fantastic squad, and we can’t wait to play and host them frequently in the future. He continued.
“Over the past two or three years, we have consistently played higher-ranked teams, which has significantly improved the quality of our game,” said ACB CEO Mr. Naseeb Khan. Our players develop confidence and are able to pinpoint areas for improvement when they play against elite teams. Regularly facing large teams is essential to our development, and we want to give our team more chances to play bilateral cricket against these elite teams.
“Our team is focused on becoming equally competitive in bilateral cricket, as we have performed well in ICC events over the last two years.” He continued.
“We are excited to embark on this historic ODI series with Afghanistan,” said CSA Chairman Lawson Naidoo. “As evidenced by their recent performances in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 and most recently at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, they have developed into a very competitive all-around team.” This is an important turning point in our cricketing relationship, and we anticipate a fun and competitive series.
There have only been two ODI meetings between the two teams; they occurred in 2019 and 2023 at the ICC Cricket World Cup.
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This will be a historic occasion for Afghanistan cricket since they have never before played bilateral cricket against Cricket South Africa. In addition, the ACB and the Bangladesh Cricket Board are presently negotiating a new date for the ACB’s all-format home series. Details of the agreement will be disclosed once it is reached.
Series Schedule:
| Date | Format | Venue |
| Wed, Sep 18 | 1st ODI | Sharjah Cricket Stadium |
| Fri, Sep 20 | 2nd ODI | Sharjah Cricket Stadium |
| Sun, Sep 22 | 3rd ODI | Sharjah Cricket Stadium |
India
