New Zealand to get same facilities like Aussies in Bangladesh tour

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) made it clear that the New Zealand cricket team will get the same facilities like the Australians in their upcoming Bangladesh tour for a five-match T20 International series.

Australia were stringent about the bio-bubble for which the BCB even had to hire a full hotel to accommodate the players and officials. The New Zealand team will also get a hotel where there will be no other than the series-related people.

The BCB is trying to maintain the bio-bubble trend like the Australia series, said BCB chief physician Dr. Debashis Chowdhury.

The Australian cricket team got off the plane and boarded the team hotel bus. They did not want to enter the airport. The BCB accepted the chartered flight and made arrangements accordingly. However, the New Zealand cricket team has to cross the airport before getting on the bus.

There is no bus service for them from the runway as they will come on commercial flights. But they don't have to stand at the airport. Kiwis will get out of the bus directly. The BCB will arrange special immigration for them.

"New Zealand is not getting the benefit of the bus as soon as it gets off the plane. This is happening because they are coming on a commercial flight. However, due to special immigration, they do not have to stand anywhere inside the airport. The team will come out and get on the bus," said Debashish Chowdhury.

The BCB will rent the entire hotel for New Zealand as they did for Australia. The team will be incomplete isolated until the end of the series. As Bangladesh will be in the same hotel, it is not yet clear how they will use the pool gym. Apart from this, the facilities given to the Australian team on and off the field will also be applicable in this series.

"The New Zealand series has the same bio-bubble in place as the Australia series. We are doing our best to keep the series safe from viruses with maximum security," Dr. Chowdhury added.

In the Australia series, there were also some other rules like when the ball went to the gallery during the game, a new ball was given and as long as the team was on the field, there was no one in the field except the match officials.

Besides, there was a condition of not shaking hands with the Bangladesh team players. As per the decision so far, these will also be in force against the Kiwis.

The New Zealand team will arrive in Bangladesh on August 24. New Zealand Cricket announced a 16-member squad on Monday night ahead of the tour without their first-choice players. The first of the five-match T20 series will be held on September 1. The remaining four matches will be played on September 3, 5, 8 and 10 respectively.