Bangladesh stay upbeat to beat New Zealand in three-match ODI series, for a much-needed boost for the upcoming World Cup. The first ODI starts today at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
In fact all of the matches of the series will be taken place at the same venue from 2 Pm, Gazi TV and T Sports will telecast the match live.
In their last series at home, Bangladesh tasted a 2-1 defeat to Afghanistan, which was their only third series defeat on own backyard since 2015. England are the only team to beat them twice.
After the Afghanistan series, Bangladesh also had bad phase in Asia Cup but they still achieved something to remember by beating eventual champions India in their last match of the Super Four phase.
For New Zealand series, Bangladesh rested their key players including captain Shakib Al Hasan, inform Najmul Hossain Shanto and others but brought back stalwarts like Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah Riyad.
It was series for Mahmudullah to prove his stamina after being axed from the team following the series against England in March this year.
For Tamim, who recovered from his back injury, it's a series to have some game time ahead of the World Cup.
The team management however formed the team with some players, who still could force their way back to the national team for the coveted World Cup. New Zealand too rested their first choice players and so it looked that the series is opportunity for players to put their individual performance and force their case for the World Cup stronger.
But Bangladesh captain Liton Das, who is leading the side in absence of Shakib Al Hasan, dismissed the notion, saying that individual performance mattered little if the team can't win the match.
“You can take five wickets or hit century but it would matter little if you suffer a defeat,” Liton said here today.
“There is nothing bigger for a team to win a series for the country. So we'll be here to win the series. We want to put up our best game.”
New Zealand haven't beaten Bangladesh in their backyard in 13 years, so there's that record to sort out for the visitors. They have beaten Bangladesh last in 2008 when they won the series by 2-1.
Later in 2010, they suffered a 4-0 defeat in five-match series where a game was washed out due to the rain. That was the first time that Bangladesh beat a top team, apart from Zimbabwe and a depleted West Indies side.
New Zealand last visited Bangladesh for an ODI series in 2013 and got whitewashed in the three-match series.
The Kiwis however have last visited Bangladesh in 2021 for a five-match T20 International series which they lost by 3-2.
Overall the two teams played 38 ODIs with Bangladesh winning 10 and losing 28.
Bangladesh however beat New Zealand last in ODI format in 2017 Champions Trophy in Cardiff. Since that victory, Bangladesh lost seven straight matches to New Zealand.
Therefore it's the high time for them to snap that losing streak and obviously at home den, they are favourite to do that.
Espncricinfo add: New Zealand bring one-third of their World Cup team when they have sent only five World Cup-bound players to Bangladesh. Lockie Ferguson leads the side that also includes Trend Boult, Rachin Ravindra, Ish Sodhi and Will Young
Boult returned to ODIs this year only last week when he played against England, and was later picked in their World Cup squad. Ravindra has impressed as an allrounder in 2023, taking 11 wickets while scoring 179 runs at 29.83 average. Sodhi has taken seven wickets in nine games this year while Young is their second-highest scorer in ODIs in 2023. Ferguson's choice as captain is an interesting one as he has only led in one game in his competitive cricket career - a warm-up T20 between New Zealand and Gloucestershire last month.
Dean Foxcroft is the only uncapped cricketer in the squad while Dane Cleaver's only ODI appearance was in July last year. The rest of the squad has been involved in ODIs this year.
Squad:
Bangladesh: Liton Das (Captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Anamul Haque Bijoy, Tawhid Hridoy, Mahmudullah Riyad, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Mahedi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Zakir Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Syed Khaled Ahmed
New Zealand: Lockie Ferguson (captain), Finn Allen, Chad Bowes, Will Young, Tom Blundell, Dean Foxcroft, Henry Nicholls, Rachin Ravindra, Cole McConchie, Dane Cleaver, Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner, Trent Boult.
