Afghanistan and Bangladesh began their one-off Test on October 9, 2026 at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, with the match scheduled to conclude on October 13, 2026. Despite being a fully recognised Test between two ICC Full Members, the fixture does not carry any World Test Championship points and will have no bearing on the WTC 2025-27 standings.
The central reason is straightforward – the World Test Championship operates as a closed league featuring only nine top-ranked Test-playing nations, and Afghanistan is not among those nine sides. Because Afghanistan sits outside the WTC structure, any Test it plays, regardless of the opponent, cannot be counted within the championship cycle.
This is the third Test between the two sides. Afghanistan won the first meeting by 224 runs in Chattogram in September 2019, while Bangladesh won the second by 546 runs in Dhaka in June 2023, leaving the head-to-head level at one win apiece heading into Abu Dhabi.
Why is Afghanistan not included in the WTC?
The WTC was designed around nine established Test-playing nations, and the ICC has not built a promotion or relegation mechanism into the competition. Newer or lower-ranked Full Members such as Afghanistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe cannot rotate into the WTC points table under the current structure.
Afghanistan has played 13 Tests since gaining Test status in 2017, winning four, losing eight and drawing one. That limited red-ball schedule makes it difficult for the country to sustain the kind of regular multi-match series that a points-based championship table requires. Without a consistent volume of fixtures, integrating Afghanistan into a structured WTC cycle presents a practical challenge beyond the current nine-team format.
Matches involving teams outside the nine WTC members, or bilateral fixtures played outside the official WTC window, are classified as stand-alone Tests. They carry full Test status and are recorded in career and team statistics, but they do not contribute to WTC standings for either side involved.
What does this Test mean for Bangladesh’s WTC campaign?
While the Abu Dhabi fixture is a stand-alone Test for Afghanistan, Bangladesh do have active WTC 2025-27 commitments. Najmul Hossain Shanto leads Bangladesh in this match, with Rahmat Shah captaining Afghanistan in place of the previous captain Hashmatullah Shahidi.
After this Test concludes, Bangladesh face West Indies and South Africa in their remaining WTC assignments. Those results will determine whether Bangladesh can qualify for the WTC final for the first time. The Abu Dhabi match therefore carries no WTC points for Bangladesh either, even though they are an active WTC participant, simply because their opponent is not part of the nine-team league.
The ICC’s closed-league model means that only series between two WTC member nations, scheduled within the official cycle, generate championship points. Any Test outside that framework, including this Afghanistan versus Bangladesh fixture, is played purely for bilateral honours and historical records.
