Ireland and Afghanistan, the two latest joined ICC full-members, are set to play their second Test when Ireland will tour in India in next year’s February-March to play against Afghanistan.
Ireland will land India on 18 February 2019 to play three-match T20I bilateral series, five-match ODI bilateral series and one-off Test series against Afghanistan that have been scheduled between February 23 to March 21.
All the matches will be played at Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium (Dehradun) while the series will end with the only Test match that will begin on March 17.
Both teams made their Test debut in this year. On May 11, Ireland made their Test debut against Pakistan at Dublin. It was an entertaining and quite thrilling encounter at the end but Pakistan won that game by five wickets.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan made their Test debut just one month later against India at Bengaluru on 14 June. However, it was a very one-sided game where the no.1 Test ranked team India won by an innings and 262 runs on the second day of the game.
Since then, the March Test will be the second Test for both the new Test teams Ireland and Afghanistan. The Dehradun Test will be Ireland’s first away Test match while Afghanistan is using this venue as their home venue.
Talking about the upcoming tour, the Irish opening batsman Andrew Balbirnie said, “The Afghanistan series is a major step forward for Irish cricket as the tour is our first major tour as a Full Member. It will no doubt be a test for the entire squad – taking on Afghanistan in subcontinent conditions will require a level of adjustment by both our batting and bowling units. As we saw here at home in the summer, Afghanistan is a quality side with some world-class players, and will be a great challenge in their ‘home’ conditions.”
Full schedule between Afghanistan and Ireland in India in 2018/19
(Three-match T20I series)
February 23: First T20I – Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium (Dehradun)
February 24: Second T20I – Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium (Dehradun)
February 26: Third T20I – Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium (Dehradun)
(Five-match ODI series)
March 2: First ODI – Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium (Dehradun)
March 4: Second ODI – Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium (Dehradun)
March 7: Third ODI – Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium (Dehradun)
March 9: First ODI – Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium (Dehradun)
March 12: Second ODI – Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium (Dehradun)
(One-off Test match)
March 17-21: Only Test – Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium (Dehradun)
