Bangladesh are set for a steep challenge in trying conditions in New Zealand as their white-ball tour against the 2023 World Cup semifinalists begins with the first of three ODIs at the University Oval in Dunedin on Sunday (Bangladesh time 4:00 am).

Bangladesh have never beaten New Zealand in their own backyard in a ODI or T20I. A confident Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto said that the team’s goal on this white-ball tour is to win the series against the hosts.

What is home advantage for Bangladesh? The question has been one of the more acute ones in Bangladesh's Test cricket in the last few years as the team has failed to yield such advantage at home – an outcome pointing to a lack of long-term vision.

Bangladesh let slip a chance to win their maiden Test series against New Zealand after succumbing to a four-wicket defeat in the second Test in Mirpur.  

New Zealand had an eight-run lead in the first innings with Phillips guiding the side to 180 from a precarious 46-5, in reply to Bangladesh's 172.

When Najmul Hossain Shanto expressed his willingness to lead Bangladesh in all three formats ahead of the first Test in Sylhet, not many would have envisioned him guiding the Tigers to an emphatic victory in his very first assignment as captain in the format.

Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha spoke highly of Najmul Hossain Shanto’s captaincy and leadership capabilities, hailing him as a strong contender to take the Tigers’ reins for the long term.

Shanto and his troops began their third cycle of the World Tests Championship (WTC) with a 150-run win against the winners of the inaugural WTC.

Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said his team are enjoying the victory, but knows that there would be criticism of his side if they do poorly in the next match.

It took over two weeks for the country’s cricket board to finally set in motion a special probe committee to unearth the reasons behind Bangladesh’s shambolic ICC ODI World Cup campaign in India.

In his first stint as on-field captain in a Test match, Najmul Hossain Shanto was able to leave his mark on yesterday’s proceedings, with especially how he rotated the bowlers and changed the field to match his team’s ploys against New Zealand batters.

Joy is now batting on 42 and he is accompanied in the middle by Mominul Haque, who is unbeaten on three.

An act of publicly taking the blame and responsibility, an initiation or indication of setting in motion an overhaul, or a statement of how things are to be taken from here on -- none of the aforementioned measures or steps were taken by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) even as over a fortnight passed since Bangladesh closed their disastrous World Cup campaign.

"I think every player will miss him," said stand-in captain Shanto.

“Personally, I feel that I have the ability to lead the team in all formats,” Shanto said in the pre-match press conference in Sylhet today

Following ICC World Cup debacle, the spotlight shifts to Test cricket for Bangladesh as they kick off the third cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC) with a two-match Test series against New Zealand, beginning November 28 in Sylhet.

Hasan Mahmud had a close shave with injury when batter Najmul Hossain Shanto hit one back at the bowler as Bangladesh began training today in Sylhet. Hasan, who could make his Test debut in the upcoming New Zealand series, was down holding his arm but recovered later to bowl at the nets again.

Najmul Hossain Shanto was assigned the captaincy for Bangladesh’s upcoming two-match Test series against New Zealand starting on November 28 at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium.

Najmul Hossain Shanto will lead Bangladesh team in the two-match Test series at home against New Zealand later this month as a number of leading players, including Liton Das will be missing, informed BCB's cricket operations chairman Jalal Yunus.

In a World Cup where Bangladesh's performances were mostly predictably poor, their batting order remained unpredictable throughout the tournament.