New Zealand T20 shifted from Sylhet to Mirpur

The venue of the only T20 international in the Bangladesh-New Zealand series has been shifted from the Sylhet Stadium to the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur due to construction work at the original venue. It will be played as per schedule on November 6.

The change was brought about in order to complete the construction of three important structures at the Sylhet venue. The ICC has given the BCB time till November 30 to finish the construction of the main pavilion building, the media centre and the scenic hill.

While the full construction of the pavilion building has been completed, there is some work left in the media centre and the hill that is being spruced up for a seated audience and a green bank.

Sylhet was earmarked as one of the venues for the 2014 World T20, but became the focus of attention along with the Cox's Bazar Stadium as the pace of work at both venues since June this year has been slow.

"Our priority is to complete this important World T20 venue ahead of the deadline given by the ICC," BCB's acting CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury said. "Therefore we felt that to ensure uninterrupted work at the stadia in Sylhet, it was best to hold the Bangladesh-New Zealand match elsewhere."