KABUL — Afghanistan’s national under-19 cricket squad, officially designated as the Afghanistan Future Stars, departed for Oman on Saturday to begin a seven-match tour aimed at finalizing tournament preparations ahead of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) U19 Asia Cup in November.
The delegation, led by newly appointed team captain Sohail Khan, will participate in a five-match youth One-Day International (ODI) series against Bangladesh’s U19 side at the Oman Cricket Academy Ground in Al Amerat. Following the conclusion of the series against Bangladesh, the Afghan squad will face host nation Oman in two additional preparatory ODIs at the same venue.
The bilateral series comes on the heels of the official schedule announcement by the Asian Cricket Council, which placed Afghanistan in Group B for the upcoming regional tournament alongside Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Malaysia.
Afghanistan Cricket Board officials emphasized that the fixture list in Muscat will serve as a crucial technical tune-up for the squad before entering group stage play in the Asia Cup, where Afghanistan is slated to open its campaign against Bangladesh on November 5.