Dehradun likely to be Afghanistan's second home ground

Nestled in the mountain ranges of the Himalayas, the idyllic Dehradun could soon become the second 'home' ground of the Afghanistan cricket team, fast emerging as a unifying force in a war-ravaged country.

"Dehradun is likely to be Afghanistan's second home ground," a BCCI official told PTI.

The south Asian nation got its first home ground in India when the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) and the BCCI signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority in 2015 to use the Shahid Vijay Singh Pathik Sports Complex.

Afghanistan cricket had received a massive fillip with the country securing Test status last year.

India will host Afghanistan's maiden Test match from June 14 to 18 in Bengaluru.

The decision was taken after officials from the BCCI and the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) met on Tuesday. BCCI acting secretary Amitabh Choudhary had said Bengaluru emerged as the best-possible venue for the historic match.

For the venue at Greater Noida, a working agreement between the stakeholders saw the under-19 cricket teams of Afghanistan and Zimbabwe play their first one-day match on December 13 there.

Dehradun houses the Rajiv Gandhi International cricket stadium, a multi-purpose facility and the state's only international level stadium.