Visiting New Zealand will reach Sylhet today for the first of the two-match Test series against Bangladesh.

They landed in Dhaka last night. New Zealand team will start practice on Thursday. The World Cup semifinalist was supposed to play a two-day warm-up game, which later was cancelled at the request of their board as they want the players to take some rest after a grueling World Cup journey.

The first Test commences from November 28 at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium while the second and final Test will be played at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium from December 6.

The series is the first World Test Championship series for Bangladesh in 2023-25 cycle.

Najmul Hossain Shanto will lead Bangladesh in absence of Shakib Al Hasan who fractured his index finger during World Cup. Liton Das who led the Bangladesh's last Test match against Afghanistan in June was approved a paternity leave for a month.

Veteran Opener Tamim Iqbal skipped the series while fast bowlers Taskin Ahmed and Ebadot Hossain were ruled out due to injury.

Meanwhile Tamim's elder brother Nafis Iqbal was reappointed as the team manager of the Bangladesh national cricket team for series against New Zealand, the BCB's Cricket Operations department confirmed.

Nafis, the former Bangladesh opener, was working as Bangladesh's team manager till the ODI series against New Zealand in September, the side's last bilateral engagement before the World Cup.

During the third and final ODI of that series, while the match was still going on, Nafis left the dressing room all of a sudden. It was later revealed that he was excluded from the Bangladesh contingent for the World Cup.

Bangladesh: Najmul Hossain Shanto (Captain), Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Zakir Hasan, Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Nurul Hasan, Mehidy Hasan, Taijul Islam, Naeem Hasan, Khaled Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Shahadat Hossain, Hasan Morad.

New Zealand: Tim Southee (Captain), Tom Blundell (wk), Devon Conway, Kyle Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Kane Williamson, Will Young, Neil Wagner.

Bangladeshi wicketkeeper-batter Mushfiqur Rahim is set to feature for Fortune Barishal in the forthcoming Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

Mushfiqur had played for Sylhet Strikers in the last edition. His price was fixed at 80 lakhs in the players' draft according to the category. Which means he was in 'A' category.

The top category player will play along with other star players like Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, and Khaled Ahmed in Fortune Barishal.

Neymar said he was relishing “new challenges and opportunities in new places” after he joined Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal from Paris Saint-Germain on a two-year deal Tuesday, becoming the latest big name lured to the oil-rich Gulf state.

The Brazil forward, 31, ends a six-year stay in the French capital and follows in the footsteps of Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Sadio Mane in swapping Europe for the Middle East.

“I have achieved a lot in Europe and enjoyed special times, but I have always wanted to be a global player and test myself with new challenges and opportunities in new places,” Neymar said in a statement from the Saudi Pro League.

“I want to write new sporting history, and the Saudi Pro League has tremendous energy and quality players at the moment,” he added.

Neymar was “in negotiations” on Sunday to become the latest football superstar to decamp for Saudi Arabia, leaving Paris Saint-Germain just as Kylian Mbappe was brought back in from the cold by the French champions.

A source close to PSG told AFP that 31-year-old Neymar “no longer figures in the club or manager’s plans” with the Brazilian immediately linked to Al-Hilal in the Gulf kingdom.

Another source in Saudi Arabia said that “direct negotiations” between Neymar’s agents and the Public Investment Fund (PIF) were ongoing.