The International Cricket Council (ICC) announced its Future Tours Programme (FTP) and Bangladesh have a chance to play fourth most — 35 matches to be precise — Test matches during the proposed timeframe following the three hotshots — India, Australia and England.

Besides, Bangladesh have a chance to play 42 ODIs and 45 T-20s in the four-year schedule running from May 2019 to May 2023.

India to play 37 Tests, England play 46 and Australia play 40. India play 61 ODIs, West Indies play 62 and Sri Lanka play 48.

Pakistan’s 28 Tests are the joint-lowest of the established Test sides alongside New Zealand, with only Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Ireland playing fewer games.

Tests are not the only format in which Pakistan fans can feel hard done by. Their 38 ODIs are the lowest of all teams, even lower than that of Afghanistan (41), Zimbabwe (40) and Ireland (42), reports tribune.com.pk.

Pakistan also play 38 T20Is in the four years — also the joint-lowest of the established Test-playing nations. Even Ireland play six more T20Is, while India play 61, West Indies 55 and New Zealand play 49.

IPL now has window in ICC FTP

The Indian Premier League has been all but formally recognised in the new Future Tours Programme as a global event. In the next FTP cycle (2019-23), the IPL is the only domestic Twenty20 league during which all international cricket will come to a halt, for a period of two months, across April and May, reports the ESPN Cricinfo.

According to the events document, penciled in at the scheduling workshop in Singapore, the 2018 edition of the IPL will begin on April 4 and end with the final on May 27. The IPL dates for five-year cycle in the FTP (between 2019-23) are: April 3 to May 26 (2019); April 1 to May 31 (2020); March 31 to May 30 (2021); March 30 to May 29 (2022); March 29 to May 28 (2023).

The ICC also has earmarked the dates for global events that fall in the 2019-23 FTP cycle, starting with the 2019 World Cup in England, which starts on May 30, four days after the IPL; the World Cup final is scheduled for July 14. In 2020, Australia will host the World T20 between October 24 and November 15. The other two marquee events in the second half of the new FTP will be hosted by India: the Champions Trophy will be played in 2021, between October 21 and November 14, while the 2023 World Cup starts on February 9 with the final on March 26.

The Asia Cup, which features the top five countries of the Indian subcontinent, has also got a fixed window for the next three editions. The tournament will be played between September 15-30 in 2018, 2020 and 2022. The Asia Cup is not part of the ODI League; in the recent past, the tournament has been played in both ODI and T20 formats.