Bangladesh national cricket team is all set to leave for New Zealand tonight (Wednesday night) to play a two-match Test series in January with the first match taking palace from January 1.  This will be Bangladesh's second series in the new cycle of the ICC World Test Championship.  While the first Test will be played in Tauranga, the second one will be played in Christchurch from January 9.  Right before flying to New Zealand, Bangladesh lost a two-match series 2-0 to Pakistan at home.  The first match was in Chattogram that the Tigers lost by eight wickets, and the second match was in Dhaka that the home side lost by an innings and eight runs.  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.

Bangladesh Test captain Mominul Haque insisted that the Tigers are favourites to win the two-match Test series starting from Tuesday in Chattogram, but he also said the West Indies have the ability to pose a big challenge despite missing some of their key men.

The West Indies cricket team is now in Bangladesh. They will face the hosts in a three-match ODI and two-match Test series in the coming weeks. For this series, the West Indies board had to announce the squads with 12 regular players missing, who opted out citing concern over Covid-19. Phil Simmons, coach of West Indies, refused to criticise their decision. 

Bangladesh national cricket team’s Pakistan tour is still under cloud as Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan on Thursday said that the board is yet to get a positive response from the government to tour Pakistan.