Afghanistan will play a one-off Test match against New Zealand in September. The match will be held in Greater Noida, India. This will be the first time the two teams will face each other in the longest format.
This will also be the first Test match to be held at the Greater Noida Sports Complex Ground, which is Afghanistan’s official home ground.
The Tests are likely to be played from September 9 to 13, about a month before New Zealand embarks on a three-Test tour of India, the first of which is scheduled to begin on October 16. New Zealand will visit Sri Lanka in the meantime for a Test series, the dates of which are yet to be announced.
Australia have also withdrawn from the three-match T20I series scheduled for August this year, meaning a gap in Afghanistan’s schedule will be partly filled by the New Zealand Test.
Afghanistan have lost two Tests so far in 2024, to Sri Lanka and Ireland. They also lost just one Test in Bangladesh last year, and their last win in this format was when they beat Zimbabwe in the UAE in March 2021. Afghanistan have a respectable win-loss record of 3-6 in their first nine Tests.
