Following the Asia Cup, Bangladesh will host New Zealand for a three-match ODI series in Mirpur, for which the Kiwis announced a 15-member squad yesterday.
A lot of big names — Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, and Tim Southee — were rested by New Zealand, who will be led by Lockie Ferguson as regular ODI skipper Kane Williamson is recovering from a knee injury. Their head coach Gary Stead will also miss the tour.
The series is set to work as a prelude to the ODI World Cup the following month.
For a Bangladesh fan, all the aforementioned things might seem familiar. Just two years ago, a second-string New Zealand visited Bangladesh ahead of the T20 World Cup only to lose to the Tigers for the first time in a bilateral T20 series.
At that time Bangladesh used low and slow Mirpur surfaces to their advantage and took a false sense of achievement to the T20I World Cup which eventually backfired on the Tigers horribly.
However, according to national selector Habibul Bashar, Bangladesh will not be employing a similar tactic this time around.
“We have a very good bowling attack now. I don’t think we will be going with that type of pitch anymore as we already have a good bowling unit — both spin and pace,” Bashar said of the type of surfaces that might be prepared for the New Zealand series.
Bashar also mentioned that the Tigers may even rest a few key players in the series to keep them fresh for the World Cup which will involve a hectic traveling schedule. However, that will depend on how far Bangladesh can go in this Asia Cup.
“Also, a lot will depend on how far we can make it into this Asia Cup. If we can qualify for the Super Four then we will have played a lot of games. In that case, we might even opt to rest a few of our key players against New Zealand,” Bashar added.
