Afghanistan set to "host" 1st home test in India vs Ireland

For Afghan cricket the series against Ireland includes a debut "home" test match, despite it being on Indian soil in the foothills of the Himalayas.

From where the game was in Afghanistan a decade ago, though, it represents significant progress.

Afghanistan will host Ireland in the northern Indian city of Dehradun for three Twenty20 and five one-day internationals before a five-day test match — only the second for both countries since their admission to cricket's elite.

Afghanistan lost to India last year in its very first test, and Ireland lost to Pakistan.

Since then both teams have been focused on cricket's shorter formats rather than the more traditional, longest form of the game. Afghanistan qualified for the World Cup in England after edging out the more experienced Zimbabwe, and will open its campaign against Australia at Bristol on June 2. But the focus for now is very much on the test match, which had to be brought forward by four days so it didn't clash with the start of the Indian Premier League on March 23.

Afghanistan's three spin bowlers — Rashid Khan, Mohammad Nabi and Mujeeb-ur-Rehman — will be featuring in the lucrative IPL, which is now beginning earlier to give all the players rest ahead of the World Cup.

"Keeping in mind the dates of the Indian Premier League, in which three of Afghanistan's main players will be participating, the dates were slightly adjusted," Afghanistan Cricket Board chief executive officer Shafiqullah Stanikzai said. "And I would like to thank Cricket Ireland for honoring our request."

In the absence of Gary Wilson, Ireland will be led by Paul Stirling in the T20s before William Porterfield takes over the captaincy for the ODIs and the test match.

Wilson is still recovering a condition which affects his vision, diagnosed in December last year, and will miss the entire tour.

"It's a privilege to have been asked to captain the side (and) I will relish the challenge," Stirling said. "Having started off in this side as a young player in 2008, the influence of senior players like Trent Johnston, Kyle McCallan, Andrew White and Ed Joyce were huge in developing the cricketer and the person.

"It is a big year ahead for us with the T20 World Cup qualifiers coming up in October, so the importance is growing with each game we play."

Afghanistan selectors have tried to balance experience and consistency with the need to develop more players for the international game, and have made changes to their squads for each format.

Allrounder Sahrafuddin Ashraf, Ikram Ali Khil and 17-year-old left-arm fast bowler Waqar Salamkhail were named among the 14-member test squad as Afghanistan, which didn't include Amir Hamza and Zahir Khan and three other players who were involved in their country's inaugural test match.

Ashraf is not part of Afghanistan's expanded 21-member squad for the ODIs, but will feature in the Twenty20s. Khil will be vying for a spot in the World Cup as he was also named in the ODI squad, but was left out from the T20s.

Afghanistan's seasoned campaigners such as Dawlat Zadran and Shapoor Zadran have been given an opportunity to muscle their way into the World Cup squad and show their prowess during the ODIs along with hard-hitting batsman Hazratullah Zazai, a rookie spotted during Afghanistan's domestic T20 league, held in the United Arab Emirates.

Surprisingly Afghan selectors have left out accomplished T20 wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Shahzad from the T20s, but the burly right-hander will be in contention to go to the World Cup in England after he was included in the squads for the ODIs and test match against Ireland.

Playing in Afghanistan's adopted home — India — will pose a stern challenge to the Ireland batsmen, with the wickets likely to suit the Afghan spinners.

But Porterfield was optimistic about his team's prospects, particularly after giving Pakistan an early scare in his country's inaugural test match in Dublin last May.

"I expect this to be a great contest away from home," Porterfield said. "We have a great balance throughout the squad and it's great to see some new faces get the opportunity."

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The World Anti-Doping Agency on Tuesday put off a decision about barring government officials from major sporting events if their countries voluntarily withhold dues, pushing a potential conflict with President Donald Trump and other U.S. officials until at least after this summer's World Cup.

The WADA executive committee met and said it would consider the new rule in September, two months after the end of the World Cup, which the U.S. is hosting along with Canada and Mexico.

If such a rule is adopted later this year, it would presumably go into effect before the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

The U.S. hasn't paid its dues since 2023. If that continues, the new rule could place Trump and U.S. lawmakers on a banned list for Games in their own country, though there are doubts about whether an anti-doping regulator could keep any of them from attending the Olympics.

Conflict with WADA has not been a particularly partisan issue in the U.S., which withheld the payments in 2024 and 2025 — once during Trump's presidency and once during Joe Biden's.

The U.S. has withheld $7.3 million over the two years in protest of WADA’s handling of a case involving Chinese swimmers and other issues.

WADA spokesman James Fitzgerald previously told The Associated Press the proposed rule would “not (be) applied retroactively so World Cup, LA and SLC Games would not be covered.”

However, the proposal, a copy of which was obtained by AP, did not include language to that effect and Fitzgerald did not respond to multiple emails seeking clarification about his use of the word “retroactively.”

After the meeting Tuesday, WADA director general Olivier Niggli said “the withholding of contributions by governments for political or other voluntary reasons remains a serious topic of concern for all WADA’s stakeholders.”

“Funding instability has a direct effect on the functioning and development of the World Anti-Doping Program,” Niggli said. “Ultimately, those who are most directly and most negatively impacted are athletes around the world.”

WADA started exploring the issue in 2020, around the time the U.S. began threatening to withhold money. But it says the issue of penalizing governments for not paying is not directly related to the United States.

A U.S. representative on the executive committee during the Biden administration — drug czar Rahul Gupta — led the effort to reject the proposal in 2024.

The U.S. has since lost its spot on the committee. The proposal emerged again earlier this year, and in correspondence with European decision-makers, a copy of which was obtained by AP, WADA told them such a measure could be adopted “without undue delay.”

The Europeans also asked WADA why the executive committee was taking up the issue again before a working group had finished its analysis.

A decision by the executive committee would have to be ratified by the WADA foundation board. Its next meeting is in November, though in the February letter to the Europeans, WADA said that board could meet sooner.

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FILE - President Donald Trump stands on stage next to the FIFA World Cup after receiving the FIFA Peace Prize during the draw for the 2026 soccer World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)