Agencies
New Zealand's uncapped player Rachin Ravindra said on Friday that the visitors need to have a mental shift and bring down their expectation of scoring runs rapidly in order to succeed in Bangladesh in the upcoming T20I series.
A new-look New Zealand squad began their preparation for the upcoming series against the host at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium on Friday following their three-day hotel quarantine.
Bangladesh head into the series full of confidence after having just downed Australia in a five-match series on low and slow wickets where Australia looked to struggle throughout. New Zealand too are expected to come up against similar conditions where spin will be Bangladesh's go-to weapon.
'Yes, definitely (we need to have the mental shift). Maybe getting six runs per over is a good result here whereas in New Zealand facing a spinner if you are taking 8-10 runs then that is a good result,'' Ravindra said after the opening day session.
''Now I understand our expectation for scoring runs, especially in the middle of the innings needs to be down a bit and if we consider their series against the Aussies, the par-score was 130, so, I guess we should bring down our expectations a little, and understand, that maybe, if they bowl, a couple of dots, then it's okay as long as you are in the middle you can make it up,'' he said.
Ravindra, the left-handed batsman and more-than-handy left-arm spin bowler, feels that at the moment acclimatizing with the condition is their major challenge considering they are not very familiar with the heat, a thing he had witnessed back in 2016 with the Under-19 team. New Zealand have lost their last seven completed ODIs in Bangladesh - in 2010 and 2013.
''I think its massive (heat). The first training is always little more difficult and in the next few days we would be understand how much water we need to drink,'' said Ravindra.
''It's definitely something different from what we expect in New Zealand but it's just good to acclimatize with the condition and heat and all those stuff,'' he said.
''It's good to get the ball in the hand, and feel the grass underneath and feel the pitch conditions, obviously it's turning a bit more, and holding a bit, so it's quite a challenge for us to try in the next few days to acclimatize and come up with a game plan,'' he said.
The five-match T20 series begins on September 1 at the Sher-e-Bangla National stadium in Dhaka.
