Sports Desk

The white-ball probables for the upcoming tour of New Zealand will feature in a camp at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium from today without former ODI skipper Tamim Iqbal.

Tamim wasn’t included in the upcoming two-match home Test series against New Zealand after he didn’t clear his stance regarding his intention to play for Bangladesh once again under the coaching of Chandika Hathurusingha.

“We are not clear about his (Tamim’s) availability and he is expected to talk with the board soon and later we can have a clear picture of his availability. If he is available, certainly he will join but now we are beginning the camp without him,” a BCB official told Daily Sun on the request of anonymity.

Meanwhile, the official added that the camp will run until they depart for New Zealand.

After the completion of the two-match Test series, Bangladesh will tour New Zealand for a white-ball series. The ODIs are scheduled on December 17, 20 and 23 respectively while the T20Is will be held on December 27, 29 and 31 respectively.

Players like Mahedi Hasan, Shamim Hossain, Anamul Haque Bijoy and Soumya Sarkar are included in the camp that will be guided by coach Sohel Islam, who also had a similar camp ahead of the World Cup to prepare cricketers like Mahmudullah when they were not part of the Asia Cup squad.

Meanwhile, members of the Bangladesh and New Zealand squad had a rest day in Sylhet on Saturday ahead of the series opener, scheduled at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium from December 28.

Stand-in skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto returned back to Chattogram after having a short visit to Dhaka on family issues.

Three Bangladeshi cricketers had a gym session while some of the New Zealand cricketers went to visit tea gardens in Sylhet in the evening.