Ahead of the first Test against New Zealand on Saturday, Bangladesh captain Mominul Haque said they are not worried much about what happened in the past in New Zealand.
Tigers rather are looking forward to writing a new chapter when they take on the Blackcaps in two-match Test starting on Saturday, reports UNB.
Bangladesh never won an away match against New Zealand despite playing 32 matches. New Zealand, on the other hand, lost a few matches while travelling to Bangladesh.
“We are not thinking much about what happened in the past,” Mominul said in the pre-series press conference. “We are thinking to do well in the New Year. If we can do well, the prospect of playing good cricket will increase.”
Bangladesh maintained an 11-day quarantine after reaching New Zealand. They got only a 10-day period to prepare ahead of the series with a two-day practice match.
“We are at a good stage,” Mominul said mentioning that the practice times were enough to prepare for the series. “I believe that we have to think positively to perform our best cricket. We know that we have to face many challenges in New Zealand. But if we think much about that, it will harm our normal game. You have to take every challenge come along the way.”
The biggest challenge Bangladesh would face in New Zealand is the pace-bowling attack of the hosts. Mominul said they are aware of that and are confident to take up the challenge of the Kiwi pace attack.
“They have a great pace-bowling attack, and we all know that we have to face this challenge if we want to play against them,” Mominul said. He also added that the wickets of New Zealand are always friendly for the pacer and it’s no different this time too.
Unlike previous tours, Bangladesh have a good pace-bowling attack too with Taskin Ahmed, Ebadto Hossain and Abu Jayed in the squad. Along with them, Bangladesh has the young left-arm pacer Shoriful Islam, Shohidul Islam and Khaled Ahmed. All have the ability to shine in the bouncy and fast tracks of New Zealand, believes Mominul.
“Taskin did really in the matches he played last. Ebadot and Rahi have done well too. I’m really excited to see them do well in the New Zealand series. They have to do a lot of work in this series. You can expect a better show from our pacers.”
Mominul also expressed his excitement about the inclusion of Mahmudul Hasan Joy. The right-handed batter scored two centuries and two half-centuries in only nine First-class matches he played so far.
“He is a great prospect for us. I believe he has the ability to become a big player. When I saw it for the first time during the U-19 World Cup, it was amazing. I believe he can be the next superstar of Bangladesh cricket,” Mominul praised Mahmudul.
Bangladesh will miss the service of Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan in this series. Tamim has been working to come out from an injury while Shakib is out due to family reasons.
