|| CF DESK ||

Bangladesh ODI captain Tamim Iqbal wants to play 5 bowlers including 3 pacers and one all-rounder in the first ODI against New Zealand. He said this in a virtual press conference on Thursday before the first ODI of the series.

The New Zealand wicket has always been pace friendly and the windy conditions have played a big role which always benefitted the fast-bowlers. Bangladesh team added 7 pacers in the squad, however only 3 pacers will get a chance in the playing eleven. Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Rubel Hossain, Shoriful Islam, Mohammad Saifuddin and Mohammad Al Amin Hossain are on the list.

Tamim mentioned that Bangladesh will include five regular bowlers, the skipper also confirmed that the Tigers will include three pacers in the playing eleven.

"About the team combination, what I can confirm is that we will definitely be going with three fast bowlers. We will also have [a few] all-rounders [in the playing eleven]. As a captain, what I really want to do is to go with five proper bowlers because sometimes it becomes difficult in New Zealand's conditions to play with four [genuine] bowlers. The fields here are small and there are high-scoring games. And I think it is important to go with proper five bowlers and that is what we are going to do," Tamim said.