New Delhi, March 2 (IANS) Afghanistan will tour India for a one-off Test and three ODIs in June, said the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Monday. The series, to be held soon after the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) ends, will mark Afghanistan’s first bilateral series against India after their last face-off happened via a three-game T20I series in January 2024.

As per a statement by secretary Devajit Saikia, the Test match will be played at the PCA Stadium in New Chandigarh from June 6 to June 10. The ODI series will commence on June 14 at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamshala, with the subsequent matches scheduled to happen at the BRSABV Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow and MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on June 17 and 20 respectively.

The last time Afghanistan played a Test against India, it marked their debut in Test cricket in June 2018. In that match, Afghanistan lost to India by an innings and 262 runs at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

The three-game ODI series will see batting stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma return to action for India, with both former captains now featuring only in 50-over international games after retiring from Tests and T20Is. In the 50-over format, India and Afghanistan have met four times, with the former winning three games, while the other meeting ended in a tie in the 2018 Asia Cup.

After the series against Afghanistan, Kohli and Rohit will be seen in action in the white-ball tour of England, which comprises five T20Is and three ODIs, starting from July 1. The ODI leg of the series will commence on July 14.

Recently, Afghanistan appointed Richard Pybus as their new head coach for all formats, and he will join the team ahead of the white-ball series against Sri Lanka, happening in the UAE next month. Pybus, who coached Pakistan and Bangladesh previously, has taken over from Jonathan Trott, who left once their T20 World Cup campaign ended in the league stage.

–IANS

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