Staff Correspondent
The Netherlands cricket team arrived in Bangladesh on Wednesday to play a three-match T20 series. This is the first time the Dutch team has come to Bangladesh for a bilateral series. Led by Scott Edwards, the team landed in Dhaka on Wednesday morning and will travel to Sylhet the same day, where all three matches of the series will be held.
The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is organizing this series outside the ICC Future Tours Programme. Primarily, it serves as preparation for the Bangladesh team ahead of the Asia Cup. This marks the Netherlands’ third visit to Bangladesh, but previous visits did not involve bilateral series. They played against Bangladesh in the 2011 World Cup and participated in seven matches during the 2014 T20 World Cup, though none were against Bangladesh.
In T20 encounters between the two sides, Bangladesh has won four out of five matches, while the Netherlands’ sole victory came at home in 2012. According to the ICC T20 rankings, the Netherlands is ranked 13th, while Bangladesh holds the 10th spot. The three-match series will start on Saturday, with the next two matches on Monday and Wednesday, all beginning at 6 pm. Bangladesh has been preparing intensively for the series and the upcoming Asia Cup for the past three weeks, practicing first in Mirpur and then continuing for a week in Sylhet.