Bangladesh's Test match in India to be postponed to next year, ODI tri-series shelved

There have been fresh questions raised about the India-Bangladesh one-off Test match later this year, with reports indicating that the BCCI have requested Bangladesh’s cricket board to defer their travel plans for now. With a jam-packed calendar not allowing any breathing space this year, January 2017 is being looked at as a possible option for the match to be held. March 2017 is the extended deadline to have been requested by the BCCI to BCB.

Bangladesh were set to tour India for a one-off Test later this year, around September-October, for what would have been their first ever Test tour of the country. There have been demands that the series, which is also slated to see a reprise in 2020 when India tour Bangladesh, be named after two retired captains from the two countries – Sourav Ganguly and Naimur Rahman Durjoy. However, all such questions, along with the series, must be postponed for now.

It had also been speculated that the tour of India would also consist of an ODI tri-series of seven matches, with New Zealand being the third team. August 18 had been speculated to be the day when this tournament was to begin. However, with question marks on the Bangladesh Test, the accompanying ODI series has been mired in uncertainty too.

Another highly undesirable possibility is that the series is called off. It can be hoped at this stage, however, that the two countries’ boards can arrange a window for one match in the next nine months.

“Both the countries are trying hard to fix a possible date for the series after going through our other commitments,” BCB chief executive Nizamuddin Chowdhury told reporters on Saturday.

“We all know how busy India team remains while we are also not free all the time. It can happen as per schedule while it can also be changed,” Nizamuddin added.

It has been learnt that a final decision on the date shall be taken by the two respective boards at the next ICC meeting, which is slated to begin from June 28.

Bangladesh have more to lose if the tour is called off than India, because they are currently on a quest to prove that they are good enough to compete in the Test format with the seven other teams. With Test cricket being structured into a two-tier hierarchy, time is running out for The Tigers.