Afghanistan and Qatar were set to feature in their first-ever bilateral T20I series. However, these matches now appear to be "practice matches", with the first fixture delayed by two-and-a-half hours due to a "technical problem".
If they carried T20I status, the three-match series was supposed to be Qatar's first international series against a Test-playing nation. Leading up to the matches, the Qatar Cricket Association had been promoting it as a "men's T20I bilateral series", with three matches listed on November 8th, 9th and 11th.
These were supposed to start at 5.30pm local time at the West End International Cricket Stadium.
Even a day before the scheduled start, a tweet from Qatar Cricket Association read: "Both of the Qatari and Afghan national teams are set to play in the Qatar–Afghanistan Bilateral Series 2025, taking place at the West End International Cricket Stadium in Doha."
Around an hour and a half ahead of the match, their Instagram handle began posting stories of players from both teams practising at the venue.
1st T20I, Qatar vs Afghanistan
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T20I matches or practice games?
However, Afghanistan Cricket Board then tweeted that the series would actually feature their A team, Afghan Abdalyan. Their tweet, posted hours before the start of play, said: "AfghanAbdalyan are all set to take on Qatar in three T20 practice matches as part of their preparations for the upcoming Rising Stars Asia Cup 2025. The series of practice matches will begin tonight in Doha, with the second and third games scheduled for November 9 and 11."
The statement that these will be practice fixtures led to confusion whether these games will actually carry T20I status. It is to be noted that the Rising Stars Asia Cup is scheduled to start in Doha three days after the last Qatar-Afghanistan match.
Delayed live stream leaves fans confused
The match had initially been removed from ICC's current list of fixtures, although the match page is still available here.On the match page, the status read "cancelled".
On the YouTube match stream, scheduled to go live at 5.30pm local time, there was no feed for hours, with comments filled with fans speculating on the state of the game. A Google mobile alert stated that the fixture had been "cancelled", aligning with the match status on the ICC's fixtures page.
Update: Wisden.com reached out to the Afghanistan Cricket Board, who maintained that these were practice matches being held between the two teams without T20I status. The match had been postponed due to a "technical problem".
At 8pm local time, two-and-half hours after the scheduled start, the feed finally began. On the Qatar Cricket Association YouTube channel, it still says "Men's T20I bilateral series".
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