Test players for ODI warm-up
There is hardly any doubt the Tigers, coming off recent home successes against West Indies and Zimbabwe, will face a stiff challenge in New Zealand and that only good homework and preparations can bring the best out of the players. From that perspective, a warm-up match deserves some attention, especially when the players are going to shift their focus to a one-day series following a T20 extravaganza at home.
However, the fact was that the team management needed makeshift arrangements to put together a playing eleven for the practice game on February 10 as two players from the Test squad -- Mominul Haque and Shadman Islam -- and ODI squad members Mohammad Mithun and Shafiul Islam yesterday joined the eight who left on Wednesday.
The remaining players from the ODI squad are expected to leave Dhaka tomorrow. Of the 15 in the squad, four will be playing in today's Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) final while captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza -- whose Rangpur Riders were eliminated from the BPL after a five-wicket defeat to Dhaka Dynamites -- will be travelling with Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Rubel Hossain and Mohammad Saifuddin.
The New Zealand series is being considered a crucial part of the team's preparations for the upcoming World Cup.
"The situation is not ideal for us since the series is not at home. We will reach there on February 10 and try to adjust as much as possible," Mashrafe told reporters after the BPL's second qualifier on Wednesday.
The three-match ODI series will start from February 13 in Napier.
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