The Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) has said that this historic one-time Test would be played in Greater Noida, New Zealand in September. The Test match will be played from 9th to 13th September as the rising Afghans will go to Delhi for a week-long training and preparation camp before the fixture.
Their debut Test against the Black Caps since they received Test status in 2017 and played their first one against India a year later in Bengaluru at the Chinnaswamy Stadium will take place on this match.
This is the first time in history that ACB has hosted Black Caps in this format although it has played nine Tests ever since. The Greater Noida site is one among several fields assigned by ACB and BCCI for Afghanistan’s home matches.
In response to this game against the Kiwis, Chairman Mirwais Ashraf expressed his desire for the Test match against them to serve as a precursor for future bilateral white-ball series consistently.
He was quoted by cricket.af saying: “We are delighted to host a quality New Zealand Test team for the first time in our cricketing history. This is a testament to the hard work we have put in through numerous discussions and meetings with different boards on the sidelines of the various ICC Board Meetings.”
“The Blackcaps are an outstanding all-format team in world cricket, and we hope to reach an agreement with New Zealand Cricket for white-ball bilateral matches in the future.”
From a total of 10 tests played by Afghans, they managed to win 3 in number. The three teams that they beat are Ireland, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.
Afghanistan defeated New Zealand in the T20 World Cup
Though New Zealand has a lot of experience in the format, they will always be wary of Afghanistan. Despite suffering an embarrassing 84-run defeat to Rashid Khan’s team in T20 World Cup 2024, Kiwis have known better than to take their enemy lightly.
Well aware that this match could be his last chance to get revenge against Rashid Khan’s team, Ross Taylor will hope for a dry ball on the pitch as it is likely to spin.
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