Afghanistan Cricket team to play first ever Test in India

New Delhi: India is going to be the first country to host the newly promoted Test team Afghanistan for a Test match, announced the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) 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.

Soon after the announcement, Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) Chairman Atif Mashal thanked BCCI and called it a historic moment for his country.

"I would like to thank @BCCI for a fruitful meeting in which we agreed that Afghanistan will play its inaugural Test match against India, which will be a historic moment for Afghanistan cricket," Mashal tweeted shortly after BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary announced it.

BCCI has also said that they were interested in making way for a bilateral series with Pakistan, but require the central government's nod for the same.

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 czar 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 said.

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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.

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 World Anti Doping Agency (WADA).