Liton Das, Mushfiqur will shore Bangladesh's batting - Ashwell Prince

Bangladesh's newly appointed batting consultant Ashwell Prince believes the return of Mushfiqur Rahim and Liton Das will help the batting unit fare better against Zealand in conditions that are expected to be as tough as they had been during their series win over Australia earlier this month. The pair was unavailable for the series against Australia due to personal reasons but are tasked with doing the heavy lifting with the bat in the coming series.

"I am expecting similar conditions against New Zealand. The batsmen from 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 said after the second day's practice session on Saturday.

Prince hinted that that the returning Das would slot back at the top of the order alongside the out-of-form Soumya Sarkar to ease some of the opening concerns. Shakib al Hasan, who also returns for the series, is likely to take up the No.3 spot. "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," Prince said.

"Adapting to the conditions is important. Partnerships 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 (opening position) as well,".

Unlike Australia who endured a horror run, Prince said he expects New Zealand to be a tougher challenge in the build-up to the T20 World Cup. "I think we can expect New Zealand to analyze and plan well, using the recent Australia series to learn from. They are a street-wise team who would plan meticulously against every batsmen, bowlers and pitches. They will use every bit of information to help them," Prince said.

'I was pretty shocked and overwhelmed' - Glenn Pocknall

Meanwhile, New Zealand head coach Glenn Pocknall has admitted that he was surprised when New Zealand Cricket named him as interim head coach for this tour to Bangladesh. "I recalled the story with the players in our first team meeting: I was at the indoor centre in Wellington when I got a call and I was pretty shocked and overwhelmed. It was totally out of the blue. I spoke to my partner when I got home. I got excited very quickly," Pocknall said.

"As much as I have always wanted to coach the Black Caps, it wasn't something in the front of my mind. I am very proud and privileged to be working here with this great bunch of guys.

"New Zealand Cricket's well-being policy is put in place for both players and coaches. It allows the players in the starting XI and main coaches an opportunity to really refresh. Otherwise they have five or six months on the road which can become mentally draining in the world we are living in, at the moment.

Pocknall said that he has already picked the brains of the former Bangladesh head coach Jamie Siddons and added his side was well prepared to take on the Bangladesh challenge having done their homework about Mustafizur Rahman, who had been a threat against the Australians.

"I have worked with Jamie (Siddons) for three years. He has good knowledge on the conditions, and likewise for Thilan (Samaraweera). So it is about gathering all that information and simplify it before passing it on to the players. At the end of the day, we still have to prepare for the unexpected. Pitches and conditions can change. These things can change from time to time.

"He [Mustafizur] bowled outstandingly well [versus Australia]. It was pretty special to watch how well he executed his deliveries. I think he is a threat as much as the other Bangladesh players. We have had a good look at him and discussed how we feel we can target him. But it comes down to how we can execute it in the games. Trying to put him under pressure and do something different is the aim against him," he added.