Bangladesh T20 captain Shakib Al Hasan joined the national team Thursday ahead of the tri-series in New Zealand where the Tigers will take on Pakistan Friday in the first match.  Shakib was busy playing in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) in the West Indies. He was supposed to join the team two-three days earlier, but due to a shortage of airline tickets, he had to wait longer. The all-rounder was not part of the Bangladesh team that played a two-match T20 series against the UAE before flying to New Zealand. In Shakib's absence, Bangladesh vice-captain wicketkeeper-batter Nurul Hasan Sohan attended the tri-nation series trophy unveiling yesterday along with Pakistan captain Babar Azam and New Zealand captain Kane Williamson. "Shakib has joined the team. His presence brings a lot of advantages," Mehidy Hasan Miraz told the media before the series. "We played the last series without him." Bangladesh, New Zealand, and Pakistan are playing the tri-nation series as a prelude to the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia later this month.  Read: Shakib Al Hasan shines in Caribbean Premier League "A tri-nation series like this before the World Cup will help us boost our confidence," Mehidy said. "Pakistan played well both in the World Cup and Asia Cup. New Zealand are also a great team. We will play against both of them." Bangladesh and Pakistan will meet in the first match of this tri-nation series Friday at 8am Bangladesh time at Hagley Oval in Christchurch. After the series, Bangladesh will travel to Australia to take part in the T20 World Cup.

With Liton Das’s imperious ton at Christchurch, his second in career, Bangladesh ended the New Zealand series with a draw 1-1 on Tuesday. Despite his century, Bangladesh lost the second Test in Christchurch by an innings and 117 runs within the third day of the match. It has been Bangladesh’s best Test result against New Zealand so far. Before this series, Bangladesh played a total of 32 international matches in New Zealand but failed to win any of them. But in the first Test, Bangladesh managed to beat the Kiwis by eight wickets and created history. “It was a dream to win a Test abroad against a big team,” Mominul Haque, Bangladesh captain told after the match. “It was so important for us to register the first win. We will also win series abroad in future. We now have that important belief. It was the biggest positive side of this series. But we have many things to do.” Also read: Ashwell Prince laments Tigers' batting collapse in Christchurch Bangladesh, however, failed to continue on a good run in the second Test when they had to endure a defeat by an innings and 117 runs. In the first innings of the match, New Zealand had posted a massive total of 521 for six and declared the innings. Tom Latham, the New Zealand captain hit a double-ton while Devon Conway registered this second century of the series as well. In reply, Bangladesh tumbled for 126 in the first innings with the highest score of 55 by Yasir Ali who was playing only his third Test. Trent Boult bagged five wickets for the hosts— his ninth five-fors in Tests so far. “It was disappointing that we failed to bat well in the first innings of the second Test,” Mominul said. “Our bowling in this match was also below our standard. Shohan (Nurul Haque), and Yasir (Ali) did well in the first innings, and in the second innings, Liton was outstanding.” The hosts enforced a follow on, and in the second innings, Bangladesh ended up on 278 all out. They came up with a better response, but it was too late from the Bangladeshi batters. Liton came to bat at five and posted 102 for 114 balls— his second ton in Test career. His first Test hundred came against Pakistan in the previous series at home— which was Bangladesh’s first series in the new cycle of the World Test Championship. The second Test of the series was the last Test of New Zealand legend Ross Taylor. The batter ended up his red-ball journey with the wicket of Ebadot Hossain. Latham took a great catch to remove Ebadot, and in his last ball of the career, Taylor got his farewell gift from Ebadot. Also read: New Zealand take giant stride as Bangladesh suffer batting collapse While leaving the field for the final time, Taylor got applauded by his teammates, opposition, and the crowd. Taylor ended his Test career as one of the best batters that New Zealand has ever produced. He helped the Blackcaps won the last year’s World Test Championship final against India. He saw many ups in his career with little downs. Bangladesh team will now travel back home and start preparing for the upcoming edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), which is set to begin on January 21 in Dhaka. This year BPL is scheduled to be played at three venues in Dhaka, Chattogram and Sylhet. However, the official schedule is yet to be revealed.

Bangladesh selectors added Fazle Rabbi Mahmud to the Test squad for the New Zealand tour to replace Shakib Al Hasan, BCB confirmed on Wednesday.  The 34-year old batter scored the most runs in the recently concluded 23rd National Cricket League where he made 630 runs at an average of 60.30.  Rabbi’s late inclusion came after ace all-rounder Shakib took leave from the NZ tour citing family reasons.  READ: Dhaka Test: Bangladesh lose by an inning and 8 runs Shakib was included in the squad when BCB announced the first list. But within a few hours after the announcement, Shakib sent a letter to BCB requesting a leave.  Bangladesh will face the hosts in a two-match Test series in January 2022 which will be a part of the 2021-2023 cycle of the ICC World Test Championship. The Bangladesh team will leave for New Zealand on Wednesday night for the series with the Tests scheduled in Tauranga and Christchurch Meanwhile, former Sri Lanka spin legend Rangana Herath has agreed to a two-year term as spin bowling coach of the Tigers. Herath will join the Bangladesh coaching team in New Zealand.  His contract is until the end of November 2023. Herath had earlier been the team’s spin consultant for the away series against Zimbabwe this year followed by the home series against Australia and New Zealand and the ICC Twenty20 World Cup. READ: Top Performers in the BAN vs PAK Test Series 2021 Bangladesh squad for New Zealand tour: Mominul Haque (Captain), Shadman Islam, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mushfiqur Rahim, Liton Das, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Yasir Ali, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Abu Jayed Rahi, Ebadot Hossain, Shoriful Islam, Khaled Ahmed, Shohidul Islam, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Mohammad Naim, Fazle Rabbi Mahmud.

he Tigers now want to end their New Zealand tour with a consolation victory in the third T20 after being swept 3-0 in the ODI series and losing the first two T20s. Bangladesh's New Zealand tour started with the hope that the Tigers would register their maiden win in the island country against the hosts. They have played 31 matches against the Kiwis in New Zealand, but are yet to win a game against them here. Also read: Soumya hit fifty but Tigers lose T20Is series against Kiwis The final T20 match of the series is slated to be played on April 1 in Auckland at 12pm (Bangladesh time). Bangladesh top-order batsman Soumya Sarkar said, "We still believe that winning matches in New Zealand is still possible for us if we can play as a team and perform together." "The bowlers did well in one match, the batsmen in the other – this is how we played against New Zealand. But we have to play as a team if we want to win here," Soumya told the media over a video message. Also read: Tigers start T20 series vs New Zealand with big defeat "We were good at fielding in the last game but failed to bowl well and continue the good momentum while chasing a tough total. We have to play well in all three departments of the game." Bangladesh lost the first T20 of the series by 66 runs. They lost the next game by 28 runs in the DL method; Soumya hit a 50 but his effort went in vain as other batsmen failed to respond. Before the T20 series, the Tigers faced the hosts in a three-match ODI series which they lost 3-0.

Jeff Crowe, the match referee of the second T20 between Bangladesh and New Zealand, apologised to Bangladesh due to confusion over their target in the match set following the Duckworth-Lewis Method (DL method). New Zealand batted first on Tuesday and posted 173 for five in 17.5 overs before rain interrupted. The match referee ended the innings of the hosts at that point and set a target of 148 runs in 16 overs for Bangladesh.  But after playing nine balls, Bangladesh were told that the target had been revised to 170 in 16 overs. But later, that too was increased to 171 runs in 16 overs.  Bangladesh’s head coach Russell Domingo said the whole thing was unusual. “I’ve never seen this sort of incident before. We didn’t know how many runs we have to score when we took the field,” he told the media after the match. Jalal Younus, a board director of BCB and official during Bangladesh’s New Zealand tour, said the match referee apologised to Bangladesh for this incident.  “It wasn’t something that we’re used to seeing,” Jalal told the media. “It was disappointing. They failed to prove their proficiency. The match referee, however, apologised to the Bangladesh team.” Bangladesh lost the game by 28 runs under the DL method. While chasing 171 in 16 overs, they scored 142 for seven in 16 overs. Soumya Sarkar hit a fifty.  With this defeat, Bangladesh lost the series to New Zealand with one match in hand scheduled for April 1. 

Bangladesh batting coach Jon Lewis has hailed Mohammad Mithun who hit a 50 in the second game of the three-match series between Bangladesh and the hosts New Zealand. The final game of the series will take place on March 26 at 4am (Bangladesh time) at Wellington. The match will be telecast live on BTV, GTV, and T Sports. Bangladesh posted 271 in the second game riding on the 50s of Tamim Iqbal and Mithun. But the total proved to be too easy for the hosts to chase down as they sealed the game with 10 balls to play and five wickets in hand. Also read: Tamim, Mithun propel Tigers to 271 in 2nd ODI vs Kiwis Tamim scored 78, his 50th 50 in ODIs, and Mithun remained unbeaten on 73. According to Lewis, these two batsmen set the foundation for a win for the Tigers, but the bowler failed to defend the total as Tom Latham, the stand-in captain of New Zealand, smashed a 100 and won the game for the hosts. "Mithun played an exceptional knock in Christchurch. He was trying to get himself closer to the line of the ball. He was trying not to look at the offside so much by keeping leg-side as an option," Lewis told the media on Thursday. Also read: Ross Taylor to play the final ODI vs Bangladesh "You can do it where the ball bounces above the stumps a bit more than Dhaka or Chattogram. I think the big aspect of batting overseas for a Bangladeshi batsman is dealing with quality seam bowling when the ball is new and there is a little bit more bounce." Unlike the first match of the series, Bangladeshi batsmen were cautious at the start of the innings. The strategy was to start slow and change the gear at the later part of the innings, and this is what Mithun did for the Tigers at Christchurch. Lewis said Bangladesh should follow the same strategy in the final game of the series. Also read: Sloppy fielding costs Bangladesh series to New Zealand "If we bat first, we have to be wary of what the new ball might do and have to ensure that quality performers like Trent Boult and Tim Southee – who might join the New Zealand side – do not do too much damage to us early on," he added. "If we are chasing a high score, we have to take advantage of the powerplay – take some risks, play some shots."

Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal said the batsman failed to post a total that can be defended by the bowlers following an eight-wicket defeat in the first ODI against New Zealand in Dunedin.

Bangladesh national team ended their practice camp in Queenstown with an intra-squad practice game on Tuesday. The Tigers are now set to travel to Dunedin for the first match of the three-match ODI series starting from March 20. 

After completion of the managed isolation and quarantine in New Zealand, the Bangladesh team will be free to move around from Wednesday, a Bangladesh Cricket Board statement reads.

Members of the Bangladesh national cricket team are safe and sound in New Zealand, said Jalal Yunus, the chairman of the media and communication committee of Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).