New Delhi: India will host newly promoted Test side Afghanistan for their first-ever Test match, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced on Monday.
The dates of the historic Test will be chalked out later, BCCI acting Secretary Amitabh Choudhary announced after a Special General Meeting here.
He said India will also host 81 matches across all the three formats from 2019 to 2023 according to the new Future Tours Programme (FTP).
“Afghans were scheduled to play their first Test in 2019 versus Australia but considering the historic relationship between India and Afghanistan, we decided to host their first Test,” Choudhary told reporters.
The next FTP cycle at home will include high-profile series against England, South Africa and Australia.
Among other important decisions taken at the SGM were lifting the ban on the Rajasthan Cricket Association, provided former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi stays away from its functioning.
“Yes, the ban on the RCA has been lifted but with certain conditions,” BCCI acting President C.K. Khanna told IANS.
The RCA was suspended by the Indian cricket board in May 2014 when ex-Indian Premier League (IPL) Commissioner Modi was re-elected its president.
Since its suspension in 2014, RCA’s cricket affairs are being looked after by the BCCI.
The RCA filed a suit against its suspension by the BCCI, to which the board had asked the association to withdraw all pending cases and not to involve the cricket board in any case.
The Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) already dissolved the ad-hoc committee that was constituted to run the affairs in Rajasthan cricket, paving the way for the ban to go.
Lalit Modi’s son Ruchir, who heads the Alwar District Cricket association, welcomed the BCCI’s revocation of the RCA’s suspension.
“With release of withheld funds and grant of international matches and IPL, cricket in Rajasthan will return to its glory,” Ruchir Modi said in a statement.
Ruchir also assured of his full support to the present RCA management.
The BCCI also decided against coming under the jurisdiction of the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) and reiterated that it already follows the regulations laid down by the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA). (IANS)
