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.

After a T20 World Cup campaign that will be remembered as one of Bangladesh cricket’s catastrophes, Tigers skipper Mahmudullah Riyad said he is not thinking of stepping down as the country’s T20 captain. Bangladesh endured defeat in all five of its Super 12s fixtures, after scraping through qualification in round 1 finishing second in a group with Scotland, Oman and Papua New Guinea. The Tigers’ dismal showing in all departments of the game left many observers surprised. Even Mahmudullah said he has no idea about what made them play like this. Read: T20 World Cup: Bangladesh sign off with a big defeat to Australia “It’s tough to say something after these sorts of defeats. We have to work on many things,” Mahmudullah said after Bangladesh’s eight-wicket defeat to Australia on Thursday in a game that lasted just 21.2 overs. “The wickets we often play on are not ideal for batting. So we have to work more on our batting.” What he possibly meant was not ideal for learning batting, particularly batting against all kinds of bowling. Bangladesh continues to be found out against genuine pace and bounce for example, and top-order collapses were a routine occurrence during the T20 World Cup campaign.   Mahmudullah’s captaincy also came under scrutiny. According to many, he failed to lead the team from the front. But Mahmudullah said he tried his best to keep the team together and play their best cricket. Read: Bangladesh team for ICC Women’s World Cup announced “It’s (stepping down as captain) not in my hands. Maybe there was some deficit in my captaincy. But I tried my best to lead the team, and bring out the best of the boys. Now up to the board. They will decide about it,” Mahmudullah added. Mahmudullah scored 169 runs in eight matches with a fifty. He was the second-highest runs scorer for Bangladesh in the campaign after opener Mohammad Naim, who posted 174 in seven matches.