BCB to ask India to play three ODIs

Nazmul Hassan, the BCB president, has said Bangladesh will ask India to play three ODIs rather than one Test against them later this year. Nazmul however did not explain the board's preference towards the shorter format.

Nazmul had confirmed in February last year that India would be touring in 2014, 2015 and 2020 as per the new FTP cycle, while Bangladesh would play their first ever Test in India in 2016.

"This year we are playing full series against Pakistan, South Africa and Australia," Nazmul told reporters. "India are only supposed to play one Test here. We are thinking what will happen by playing a Test against India? It may be better to play three ODIs against them. We are going to put forward this proposal. But it is almost finalised that we will play a Test against India in 2016, in Eden Gardens."

Bangladesh players have often complained of the lack of Test matches, and the long periods of time they have to wait to play them. Even while announcing these tours last year, Nazmul said that playing Tests against higher-ranked teams was a major priority. "Our main objective was to play more Test matches, and tour the big nations. We have confirmed these so far, because every country has a very tight schedule," he said at the time.

Bangladesh are scheduled to play seven Tests in 2015 and are likely to play more than 60 Tests in the new FTP cycle till 2022. But they have a September 30 deadline to be within the top eight in the ICC ODI team rankings to qualify for the 2017 Champions Trophy. So playing more ODIs could be one of their priorities this year.