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There is every chance that the track here at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium will play slow with a lot of turn on offer. How the pitch is expected to behave The outfield might be on the slower side with dew expected to play a role in the night Equipped with floodlights, it has as many as five pitches and the one in the centre is expected to be used for the first of the three T20I matches. The 25,000-seater is a state-of-the-art stadium and is spread over an area of 23 acres. The stadium, which is built in the Raipur area of Dehradun with Himalayan mountain ranges in the background, will become the 21st stadium in India to host a T20 international. Afghanistan, who have been forced to play away from their country, will be the first 'home' team to take the field at this newly-inaugurated stadium, against a Bangladesh side which is still trying to find its feet in the shortest format of the sport after all these years. The format doesn’t matter, what matters is we will play more games and get exposure.The Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Dehradun is all set to host its first ever international match. “It’s great news for Afghanistan cricket that BCCI has announced that each team touring India will play us first. The BCCI decision to give Afghanistan the chance to play practice matches against every touring team has been welcomed by those associated with Afghan Cricket. The best thing about this place is it looks like Afghanistan with mountains surrounding the stadium. Sharjah and Greater Noida have been our home grounds as well and now we have Dehradun. It would be momentous to see Afghanistan play their first Test in Bangalore.”Īfghanistan captain Asghar Stanikzai also exuded excitement.
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“Even the extremists in the country don’t oppose cricket activities and follow the sport. The Afghanistan team’s media manager, Lutfullah Stanikzai, felt qualifying for the 2019 World Cup and getting Test status is testimony to the war-torn nation’s rapid progress in cricket. His extended family and servants permanently shifted base to the valley, which was also the birthplace of Afghanistan’s penultimate King, Mohammad Nadir Shah.
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It would be exhilarating to watch the Afghanistan team in action,” said Saif, 24.ĭehradun’s Mangla Devi Inter College was once an Afghan palace where Yakub lived. “What Rashid Khan and Mujeeb ur Rahman did this IPL was fantastic. Saif Ur Rahman Ahmadzai, who graduated from a Chandigarh college, is here with his Afghan friends to watch the matches against Bangladesh. Rashid (leg spinner Rashid Khan) is my hero, I want to get a selfie clicked with him,” said the student, who hails from Kabul. “I’m going to watch the matches with eight local friends of mine. It is a great moment for us Afghanis, who have longed to see the nation rise in a sport. It is commendable that BCCI has made a provision that all teams visiting India will play against Afghanistan in Dehradun. “It’s wonderful to be studying in a place where our rulers once lived and the Afghanistan cricket team is making it home. Like his grandfather, he too chose the Doon valley, becoming the first Afghan to formally settle down in Dehradun.Īmanullah Stanikzai, 22, an engineering student in Dehradun and a cricket enthusiast, is proud of his country’s roots in the valley. While Dost sought refuge in Mussoorie from the British for more than six years after losing the first Anglo-Afghan war (1839-1842), his grandson Yakub Mohammad was exiled to India in 1879. The Kabul Palace in Dehradun and Balahissar Palace in Mussoorie were built in the early 20th century for Afghan rulers in exile in India. Not many would know that Afghanistan has a Dehradun connect going back by a century.įor long, Mussoorie, 35 km uphill from here, was the abode of Dost Mohammad Khan, founder of the Barakzai dynasty and one of the prominent rulers of Afghanistan.
#Rajiv gandhi international cricket stadium, dehradun series
The Afghanistan cricket team might be away from home while hosting to Bangladesh for a three-match T20 series here, but playing in the Doon valley will still make them feel at home.