Australia, New Zealand and England will tour Bangladesh for separate T20 series in 2021, ahead of the World T20, which will be held in India on October-November this year, confirmed Bangladesh Cricket Board CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury to the media Wednesday.
Australia are set to make a belated trip to Bangladesh later this year as their first tour here since 2017.
But the series will be a T20 format tournament, rather than Tests, which were originally scheduled as part of the World Test Championship.
Apart from Australia, New Zealand will come to Bangladesh first and then later England will also arrive for T20 series.
The tour dates will be confirmed by the respective boards soon and then formal announcements will be made, informed the BCB CEO.
Since England and Australia might arrive in dates close to each other, there is a possibility of holding a tri-nation T20 series, but that has not been confirmed yet.
"Both boards (Cricket Australia and BCB) have agreed in principle for Australia's tour of Bangladesh before the World T20, which is going to be held in October. Ahead of the World T20, England, Australia and New Zealand will tour Bangladesh, but decision on a tri-series hasn't yet been decided. It will be a good preparation for us ahead of the World T20. We have an opportunity to play some high-profile teams,” said Nizamuddin.
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Bangladesh have missed two series scheduled for last year - two Tests against Australia and as many against New Zealand - due to the Covid-19 pandemic and other various reasons.
There is no chance of playing those postponed series at the moment as the WTC final will be held in June, and there is no room for the teams in the current Future Tours Program.
However, Sri Lanka are free to play during April so BCB is planning to arrange a series during that time against the island nation, informed the BCB high-up.
"It should be clarified that most of the FTP commitments currently are for the WTC and the ODI competition (ODI Super League). There's a guideline to complete the WTC matches before the final in June. The guideline to arrange those matches has been extended to April, from March,” said Nizamuddin.
"To fit in these postponed series, both teams have to be available. At the moment only Sri Lanka are available till April. It is not possible to fit in the rest of the (postponed) matches. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are free in April so we are trying to schedule the two or three Tests of the WTC during that time."
