The Bangladesh men’s team is all set to start their preparation for the approaching tri-nation series in Christchurch today but they are not getting Shakib Al Hasan and pace bowling coach Allan Donald from the very beginning of their training camp.
Shakib, who missed the recently concluded two T20Is against the United Arab Emirates due to his Caribbean Premier League commitment for the Guyana Amazon Warriors, is expected to join the team on Thursday.
Conversely, Allan Donald, who is currently staying in South Africa, has failed to attend the training camp and will also miss the first game in the tri-nation on the back of ticket complications.
A Bangladesh Cricket Board official confirmed on Tuesday that they are expecting Donald with the side on October 9.
'Donald's ticket has been cancelled, therefore he could not join us on time, and now we are expecting him to arrive on October 9,’ said the official.
The Tigers had reached Christchurch earlier on Sunday but had no training on Monday; consequently, they roamed around the city.
Bangladesh won two T20Is against the UAE last week, with left-arm pacer Shoriful Islam taking three wickets in the first game; however, Soumya did not play in that series.
The team management opted for the makeshift opening pair Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Sabbir Rahman against the UAE, but chances are high that the latter might not manage to get a place in the playing XI during the tri-nation involving the host New Zealand and Pakistan.
The team management might opt for Soumya Sarker or Najmul Hossain Shanto in the tri-series as a test case prior to their ICC T20 World Cup campaign starting in Australia on October 16.
Bangladesh is scheduled to commence their tri-nation series campaign against Pakistan on October 7 before they take on New Zealand on October 9 in their second match.
In their second tie, the Tigers will face the same opponents on October 12 and Pakistan on the following day in their remaining matches of the double-league format tournament.
The top two teams from the league will progress to the final, that will be held on October 14.
