Prince expects similar pitches that Bangladesh had against Australia for New Zealand series

Bangladesh batting consultant Ashwell Prince stated that the blend of young and experienced players in the Bangladesh team is very exciting. The former South Africa skipper spoke to the media on Saturday about the upcoming five-match T20I series against New Zealand starting on September 1.

"What really excites me about this Bangladesh team is that we have a good mix of experienced players and young players," said Prince. "Not just in the batting department, but also in the bowling department. We have some Under-19 World Cup winners, so they are bringing youthfulness and experience of being successful in a big tournament. It really feels as though there's a good connection between experience and youthfulness. There's a good amount of quality in every department – fast bowling, spin bowling and batting."

Prince said that the conditions should remain the same as the Australia T20Is and the players who didn't play in that series had a discussion with the ones who played. "I am expecting similar conditions against New Zealand. The batsmen from the Australia series had a nice discussion yesterday, sharing with guys like Liton Das and Mushfiqur (Rahim) who didn't play in that series. These are experienced guys but they shared what worked and what we would like to improve on from the Australia series, taking it into the New Zealand series coming up," Prince mentioned. 

Tamim Iqbal hasn't yet recovered from his knee injury and with Liton Das returning into the side, it's a three-way race now. But Prince isn't really worried about the opening combination. "Personally I am not really concerned about the opening batsmen. I think we had one or two good partnerships in Zimbabwe but conditions were tough against Australia. It is not easy to score boundaries frequently as you would in pitches where the ball is coming on. Adapting to the conditions is important. The partnership would be important. I think we have a strong competition in the opening position. I am sure Liton Das will get an opportunity in this position, as well."

"Return of Liton Das and Mushfiqur is vitally important for the team. Their return adds to the experience and communication between the more experienced and younger guys. The team has a good combination of experienced players and very exciting youthful players," added Prince. 

A former international player and a pretty experienced coach, Prince knows New Zealand very well and said that they will plan specifically against each and every player. 

"I think we can expect NZ to analyse and plan well, using the recent Australia series to learn from. They are a street-wise team who would plan meticulously against every batsmen, bowler and pitches. They will use every bit of information to help them," the Bangladesh batting consultant concluded.