Bangladesh: An official reported the arrival of the Afghan U19 cricket team in Bangladesh on Saturday. This is the first Afghan cricket team to compete abroad after the Taliban took over.

They will play five one-day and a four-day match against the Bangladesh Under-19 youth team at Sylhet International Stadium from September 10th to 25th. Rabeed Imam, a Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) spokesman said, “The first group of eight players arrived in Dhaka today. The remaining players will arrive in two other groups.” Imam further added  that the Afghan athletes immediately went to the northeastern city of Sylhet after arriving in Dhaka.

Since the Taliban took control of most of Afghanistan in mid-August, they are the first Afghan team to participate in international cricket matches in any form.

A video shared by BCB showed them arriving at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka in red t-shirts.

This series is also the first competitive match for Bangladesh U19 cricketers since they won the World Cup in February 2020.