Bangladesh, who played their inaugural Test against India at Dhaka in the year 2000 will be playing their maiden Test in February 2017. Bangladesh surprisingly have played against all full members in their home soil except in India.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India have announced that Bangladesh will play a one-off Test against India in Hyderabad. The date for the Test match is from February 8 to 12.
In a press release, BCCI president Anurag Thakur said it was the responsibility of the board to give opportunities to all Test playing nations to come to India. “As a leading Test playing nation it is BCCI’s responsibility to give opportunity to every Test playing nation.”
India has a busy home season, where they will be playing New Zealand (3), England (5), Australia (4) and the solitary Test against Bangladesh.
Bangladesh have improved tremendously under the coaching of Sri Lankan Chandika Hathurusingha and is emerging as a strong, competitive outfit in limited overs cricket. India lost the ODI series in 2015, right after the World Cup. The team has qualified for the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 at the expense of windies.
Speaking on the development, Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hossain said, “This will be a much anticipated game and given the competitive nature of their limited overs matches in the recent past, I believe the clash between these two cricket crazy nations will catch the imagination.”
India have traveled to Bangladesh five times and they have not lost any of their matches.