Visitors Bangladesh will look for a respite from the 3-0 ODI whitewash through a positive result in the T20 series beginning Sunday against hosts New Zealand.
Bangladesh will face the home side in the first match of the three-T20 series at Seddon Park in Hamilton starting at 7am Bangladesh standard time.
The time between the shifting of formats, from 50-overs to 20, has been very little for both the teams.
But for Bangladesh, they will surely not look for an excuse but make all out effort to better their performance in the tour through the shortest format of the game, given the fact that getting off to a good start in this format would be crucial with the World T20 less than six months away.
Bangladesh T20 captain Mahmudullah going into the T20 series admitted the faults which resulted in their below-par performances in the ODIs.
Batting was well below standard in two matches, while fielding was questionable at best in all the games.
@BCBtigers ODI captain @TamimOfficial28 admitted that the way the Tigers surrendered against the Kiwis in the first and third game of the series, if they continue playing like this they're going nowhere.https://t.co/KsLQL9HJG9
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) March 26, 2021
The side had dropped five catches in the second and third ODI.
“We are disappointed; we couldn’t perform to the expectation and to our ability. But T20 is a format where no team is big or small. Any team can win on a day irrespective of the ranking. The game depends on performances of just one or two players, and a combined effort of good bowling and fielding,” said Mahmudullah to the media Saturday.
“We have a strong belief because of the format of the game. We know the condition here is tough. We saw that in the ODI series. They (New Zealand) made use of their home condition very well but we failed with the bat. Our bowlers had done well in parts but our fielding gave it away for us. We can produce good result in T20 if we can play without any worry. I strongly believe we are hungry for a win and we are waiting for it,” the middle-order batsman added.
Bangladesh in the T20 series will miss the services of opener Tamim Iqbal as the left-handed batsman has been granted leave from the series for personal reasons.
Along with Tamim, Bangladesh will also miss young right-arm pacer Hasan Mahmud, who failed to recover from a stiff back picked up following the first ODI of the tour earlier this month.
Both Tamim and Hasan travelled back to Dhaka Saturday.
@BCBtigers right-arm pacer Hasan Mahmud has been ruled out from the three-match T20 series against hosts @BLACKCAPS.https://t.co/HtBkADzQiW
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) March 27, 2021
With all-rounder Shakib al Hasan already unavailable for the series from the start, Bangladesh will have to rely on two seniors in Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah for guidance.
The top-order batting will expect Soumya Sarkar and Liton Das to better their deeds, while there will be hope that Mohammad Mithun can continue getting runs from the middle.
With the ball, spinners Mahedi Hasan and Mehedi Hasan Miraz and pacer Taskin Ahmed will be expected to continue being sharp, and the effort to be complemented by left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman.
Meanwhile hosts New Zealand will be missing few of their top players having granted them leave to be with family before their stint in the upcoming Indian Premier League T20.
But that doesn’t weaken their strength as the side will look to finish strongly.
New Zealand have bagged series wins against the West Indies, Pakistan and more recently against Australia in the shortest format.
Bangladesh XI (probable):
Liton Das (wk), Mohammad Naim, Soumya Sarkar, Mohammad Mithun, Mahmudullah (c), Afif Hossain, Saifuddin, Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman