Visitors New Zealand reached Dhaka in the early hours of Wednesday for the two-match Test series against hosts Bangladesh starting next Tuesday at Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.
The majority of the New Zealand squad, who played the semi-final against home team India in the just concluded ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, were in recovery in Dubai before travelling to Bangladesh.
Both Bangladesh and New Zealand teams are scheduled to travel to Sylhet Wednesday and attend their first practice session at SICS Thursday.
Left-arm spinner Hasan Murad earned his maiden call-up to the national squad while left-handed batter Nazmul Hossain Shanto was handed the captaincy for the series.
Shanto emerged as the 13th Bangladesh Test captain after regular skipper Shakib al Hasan got ruled out of the series due to injury and vice-captain Liton Das was approved a month-long leave for personal reasons.
Tamim Iqbal, Ebadot Hossain, Taskin Ahmed and Mushfik Hasan have been left out from the previous squad, making way for Shadman Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Nayeem Hasan and Nurul Hasan to script a comeback to the national fold.
The series is both Bangladesh and New Zealand’s first in the 2023-25 cycle of the World Test Championship.
The second and final Test will be played at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium from December 6.
