With the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) on in full flow, Bangladesh head coach Steve Rhodes is worried that his men might not have the most ideal of preparations for the upcoming tour of New Zealand.
Bangladesh are scheduled to tour New Zealand next month where they are slated to play three ODIs and as many Tests against the hosts. However, the subcontinent side will barely any time to acclimatise to the conditions in New Zealand with most of their players currently tied to their BPL commitments.
The BPL comes to a close on February 8 while the first ODI between New Zealand and Bangladesh takes place five days later on February 13.
“It is far from ideal preparation, the way that we go straight from the BPL into ODIs in New Zealand. But what can we do about it? This tournament is a fantastic tournament, it needed fitting in, and it was the only slot available. We understand that, (those of us) involved in the national team, and we’ll deal with that,” Rhodes told ESPNCricinfo.
Rhodes and his men have their task cut out against New Zealand.
“We know that the preparation is going to be very rushed for the ODIs against New Zealand but we’ll put up with that and we’ll give it our best shot and try and win the games that are put in front of us. The Test boys are different. They’ve got a little bit longer to prepare and acclimatise in New Zealand, so that shouldn’t be a problem,” he continued.
The ODI series between the Kiwis and Bangladesh will draw to a close on February 20 before the action moves on to red-ball cricket with the first Test set to get underway at Hamilton on February 28.
