Australia use financial muscle to cut short pending Bangladesh tour to just T20Is in 2021

According to recent reports, the Australian cricket team could travel to Bangladesh this year for a T20I series. Considering the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup 2021, the series will give the visitors an opportunity to get accustomed to the sub-continent conditions. Australia and Bangladesh were originally slated to clash in Test matches as a part of the ongoing ICC World Test Championship. However, they will only battle it out in the shortest format of the game in 2021.

Australia likely to tour Bangladesh for a T20I series 

The ICC T20 World Cup 2021 is scheduled to be held in India. Aaron Finch and co. will look to capitalize on the opportunity to play in Bangladesh ahead of the marquee event. It is worth mentioning that this will be Australia's first tour to the Asian country since 2017. According to ESPNcricinfo, the two cricket boards have been involved in the discussions of organizing the series. However, they could not allot a window for Test matches and hence have decided to go ahead with only T20 matches. 

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Bangladesh are also scheduled to host England this year according to their Future Tours Program (FTP) and the three teams could very well feature in a triangular series. This latest development is likely to please Australian fans after their proposed tour to South Africa was indefinitely postponed. Cricket Australia's decision of withdrawing from the tour, also has now jeopardized their ICC World Test Championship aspirations as their qualification depends on the result of the India vs England Test matches. 

It is interesting to note that Australia have denied playing in Bangladesh over the last few years and are also trying to avoid home matches against countries of lesser financial muscle. With Tests not being given a priority, the country's cricket board might have set another poor example after cancelling their tour of South Africa recently too.

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Australia vs South Africa cancelled tour

Tim Paine & co. were scheduled to play three Test matches in South Africa. But due to the COVID-19 situation in the region, the board was apprehensive of letting their players travel to the country for the matches. In an attempt to save the series, they offered to host the matches in Australia, but Cricket South Africa chose to decline the proposal. Cricket South Africa was seemingly unimpressed with Australia pulling out at the 11th hour and the cricket board has also addressed the same issue in their letter to the International Cricket Council. 

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IPL 2021: Cricket Australia to grant NOCs to the players 

Cricket Australia recently stated that they will be granting No Objection Certificates (NOCs) to their players for IPL 2021 participation only on a “case-by-case” basis. Interim CEO Nick Hockley confirmed the same while speaking with the Sydney Morning Herald. Hockley added that they will be considering each of their players on several merits before handing them NOCs for IPL visits to India. 

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Image source: AP