Bangladesh’s ODIs and T20s against New Zealand, which were scheduled to kick off on March 13, because of the recent new COVID-19 case New Zealand Cricket Board rescheduled to kick off on March 20.
This will be Bangladesh’s first tour of New Zealand, after the Christchurch terror attack in March 2019, when the Bangladesh’s cricketers narrowly escaped the gunman who targeted two mosques in the city and put down over 50 people.
In a statement New Zealand Cricket Board said about the reason for the delay, “caused by ongoing challenges in the current Covid-19 environment and the need to allow visiting sides adequate preparation for international commitments”.
“To accommodate the necessary logistics, the Bangladesh tour will now begin seven days later than initially scheduled, following a five-day training camp at Queenstown, with matches to be played at the venues first planned, but on different dates,”
“Patrons who have already purchased tickets for games on which dates or venues have been changed have been notified of the amendments and their options, including full refunds if desired,”
Team News:
Bangladesh Cricket Board had announced a 20 men squad for the upcoming series against New Zealand. The left-arm spinner Taijul Islam is out of the squad, he is considered as a red-ball specialist. Allrounder Mosaddek Hossain made an entry after a wonderful performance in the 2020 Bangabandhu T20 Cup and recently finished T10 League. Another allrounder Aminul Islam Biplob has been left out because of his sickness. Fast bowler Al-Amin Hossain makes a comeback too.
Tamim Iqbal (Batsman), Mushfiqur Rahim (Wicketkeeper Batsman), Mahmudullah (Allrounder), Liton Das (Wicketkeeper Batsman), Mustafizur Rahman (Bowler), Taskin Ahmed ( Bowler), Afif Hossain (Allrounder), Mosaddek Hossain (Allrounder), Mohammad Saifuddin (Bowler), Soumya Sarkar (Batsman), Mehidy Hasan (Allrounder), Rubel Hossain (Bowler), Mohammad Mithun (Batsman), Shoriful Islam (Bowler), Najmul Hossain Shanto (Batsman), Hasan Mahmud ( Bowler), Mahedi Hasan ( Allrounder), Nasum Ahmed (Bowler), Naim Sheikh (Batsman), Al Amin Hossain (Bowler).
Shakib Al Hasan will miss this series as the BCB granted him paternity leave for the duration of the entire tour.
“Shakib is not going. He applied to stay with his wife. After talking to the board president, we granted him leave,” said BCB cricket operations chairman Akram Khan.
The Bangladesh team will leave for New Zealand on February 24. The players will not do any training camp in Dhaka, because they will only have a short time with their family before getting into a hard quarantine in New Zealand. It’s only days after the last test match against West Indies.
Before Fly off On Thursday, Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Mohammad Naim and Taskin Ahmed, and support staffers were vaccinated in Dhaka. The remaining members are expected to be inoculated by Sunday.
Revised schedule
ODIs Match
20th March: 1st ODI, Dunedin
23th March: 2nd ODI, Christchurch
26th March: 3rd ODI, Wellington
T20Is Match
28th March: 1st T20I, Hamilton.
30th March: 2nd T20I, Napier.
1st April: 3rd T20I, Auckland.
