Bangladesh to play T20I series against USA before World Cup

The next edition of the T20 World Cup will be held in June this year in the Caribbean and the United States of America (USA). Ahead of the mega event taking place for the first time in that region, Bangladesh will play a T20I series against co-hosts USA, confirmed the chairman of Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB) cricket operations department Jalal Yunus.

Bangladesh will play a full series against Sri Lanka right after the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and then a white-ball series against Zimbabwe. 

The Tigers will play two of their four World Cup group games in the USA and as part of preparation for the tournament, they will play a T20I series against the co-hosts. 

Bangladesh have only played two T20Is in the USA. In 2018, they faced the West Indies in Florida. Because of the lack of experience of playing in American conditions, Bangladesh will play the series for "acclimatisation", said Yunus.

"We will play five T20Is against Zimbabwe [after the Sri Lanka series]. We are planning to tour the USA for a three-match T20I series after that. It will be part of our training and preparation," he told reporters at a function in Dhaka on Thursday. 

The three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka will begin on 4 March. Then the hosts will play an ODI and a Test series against the island nation. In the second week of May, the series against Zimbabwe will commence. So, the USA T20I series could take place in the last week of May. 

Bangladesh have already announced the squads for the T20I and the ODI series against Sri Lanka. Najmul Hossain Shanto has been named as the full-time captain across formats. Former captain Shakib Al Hasan is not part of the white-ball squads for his eye problem and won't take part in the Test series as well, said Yunus.