New Zealand Cricket (NZC) announced the revised dates of Bangladesh’s limited-overs tour of New Zealand which now has been postponed by a week due to the COVID-19 challenges. Bangladesh will be touring New Zealand for 3 ODIs and 3 T20s in March for which the dates have been rescheduled. Initially, the tour was planned to start on March 13 while now it has been scheduled to start on March 20 and will end by April 1.
New Zealand has been in great form of late, and their impressive performances in tests have led them to be the first team to qualify for the Word Test championship at Lords in June this year. Due to the cancellation of the tests between Australia and South Africa, it will be either India, England, or Australia that will be heading to Lords for the final depending on the outcome of the upcoming India England series.
Rescheduling In Need Of “Adequate Preparation” Time
New Zealand cricket postponed the dates for the Bangladesh series by a week for the board to give “adequate preparation” time to deal with the COVID-19 challenges. Bangladesh will be undergoing a five-day training camp in Queenstown and the ODI series is scheduled to start on March 20 at Dunedin’s University Oval.
The second ODI will be played on March 23 at Christchurch’s Hagley Oval with the decider on March 26 at Wellington’s Basin Reserve. The three-match T20i series starts on March 28 and ends on April 1.
“Ongoing challenges in the current COVID-19 environment and the need to allow visiting sides adequate preparation for international commitments.”
“To accommodate the necessary logistics, the Bangladesh tour will now begin seven days later than initially scheduled, following a five-day training camp at Queenstown, with matches to be played at the venues first planned, but on different dates,” the New Zealand Cricket said in a statement.
There are new dates for our ODI and T20 series with @BCBtigers. The changes mean there are now more double-headers this summer with the @WHITE_FERNS! Details | https://t.co/sVy6NwKqIE #NZvBAN #NZvAUS pic.twitter.com/dQqJgKAufx
— BLACKCAPS (@BLACKCAPS) February 3, 2021
Bangladesh’s Previous Tour Ended Prematurely
Bangladesh will not forget their previous tour to New Zealand in 2019 which ended dramatically. The tour was cut short due to the shooting attack on the Mosque during the third Test at Christchurch. The players were grateful to narrowly avoid the day and the tour ended prematurely. Bangladesh will be hoping to put a better performance this time against New Zealand who is quite struggling in the T20 international format.
New Zealand is placed 6th in the ICC world rankings for T20 internationals. which they would like to improve with the T20 World Cup coming up this year.