Australia to tour Bangladesh for 5-match T20I series in August

Cricket Australia (CA) has agreed to tour Bangladesh for a 5-match T20I series in August this year. Initially, only three T20I matches were planned for the tour but as per the latest reports, it seems both parties have decided to expand the series.

Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB) operations chairman Akram Khan revealed they had dropped one Test match against Zimbabwe in June to accommodate the change of plans for Australia's tour of Bangladesh.

Instead, to compensate for the loss of one Test match, Bangladesh will play an additional T20I against Zimbabwe. This means the Asian team will play one Test, three ODIs, and three T20Is during their tour of the African nation next month.

"As you may have known, Australia have agreed to increase their T20I series from three to five matches," Akram Khan said on Tuesday, as quoted by ESPN Cricinfo. "It will be held over eight or nine days. We are trying to be well prepared for the World Cup T20."

Akram Khan, who has previously captained Bangladesh, said he wasn't aware of the quarantine rules in Zimbabwe.

"There were also two Tests against Zimbabwe, so we reduced it and added a T20I in its place. I am however not aware about how long the quarantine (in Zimbabwe) is going to be, but it won't be too tough," he said.

Australia to visit West Indies after Bangladesh tour

Both Australia and Bangladesh have a packed international schedule ahead of them. Speaking about Bangladesh's upcoming fixtures, Akram Khan said:

"We have a pretty packed scheduled. We will have club cricket after this (Sri Lanka) series. We will go to Zimbabwe, and afterwards we have Australia and New Zealand coming up. We also have to keep the cricketers' bio-bubble and quarantine in mind. It is not always good to play a lot of cricket, so we have to think about our schedule after this series."

Australia, meanwhile, will tour the West Indies in July following the conclusion of the Bangladesh tour. The Kangaroos will play five T20Is in the Caribbean islands as part of the build-up to the T20 World Cup later this year. Three ODI matches are also scheduled to be played on the tour.