Afghanistan cricket team is set to play its first-ever Test match against Australia later this year. Taliban, who took over the previous government in Afghanistan, has given approval to the cricket team for the tour Down Under.

Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) chief Hamid Shinwari confirmed that Afghanistan will play their first Test match after the recent change of power in the country. "We have got approval to send the team to Australia," the chief executive of the ACB, Shinwari told AFP. 

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The one-off Test match will be played in Hobart from November 27-December 1. The match was scheduled for last year but it got affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Shinwari also confirmed Afghanistan's Under-19 cricket team will tour Bangladesh for a bilateral series later this month. Before facing Australia, the Afghanistan team will play the T20 World Cup 2021 in October-November, to be held in the United Arab Emirates and Oman. 

Taliban had not allowed any forms of entertainment, including sports, during their first stint in power, before they were ousted in 2001. But this time ACB officials categorically said that cricket was supported by the Taliban.

The one-day series between Pakistan and Afghanistan, scheduled for next month in Sri Lanka, has been postponed until 2022.