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'Drawn series a fair result' - McCullum

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has said the 0-0 series score was a "fair result" given the weather in Dhaka and the way both batting units performed in the Chittagong Test

Brendon McCullum on Ish Sodhi: "Not too many legspinners have that level of control, especially for such a young guy"  •  AFP

Brendon McCullum on Ish Sodhi: "Not too many legspinners have that level of control, especially for such a young guy"  •  AFP

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum has said the 0-0 series score was a "fair result" given the weather in Mirpur and the way both batting units performed in the Chittagong Test.
"We wanted to win this Test series and were expected to do so as well," McCullum said. "We played good cricket in this series, our batting was outstanding and our bowling stood up in tough conditions. I think a drawn series is a fair reflection because Bangladesh played some excellent cricket as well.
"We would have loved to win 2-0 [but] it wasn't to be. We tried to force a result in Chittagong but the wicket was too good and both batting line-ups batted well. We lost nearly two days in rain here. We could have put them under more pressure yesterday but they stood up. They thoroughly deserved to be where they were at the start of play today. Nil-nil is a fair result."
McCullum wasn't among the runs in the two Tests. He had two scores in the twenties, one below that and, for nearly three years, he has been without a hundred in Tests. The last one came in November 2010 when he scored a double-hundred in India.
"I am not satisfied with my own performance," McCullum said. "I wanted to contribute through this Test series but that's the nature of cricket sometimes. Thankfully, the other guys in the line-up got runs. I was delighted from a team point of view.
"It has been a while but I haven't scored too many centuries any way. I can certainly try and score runs but that's how it goes. That's why there's something called an average."
He was impressed with the performance of his young bowling attack in the series. Neil Wagner took seven out of the 13 Bangladesh wickets and McCullum said it was impressive to see bowlers, who don't have much experience in these conditions, doing well.
"Three of our bowlers were only on their second trip to the sub-continent and two had their first trip," he said. "They really developed nicely. They stood up and learned a lot from this experience.
"We got in excess of 400 in both Tests. We lost a couple of wickets in the Chittagong second innings when we tried to force the pace. Our batting was outstanding and all the guys in the top order did well, barring me and Hamish Rutherford. Everyone stood up and performed in tough conditions."
He praised legspinner Ish Sodhi who proved to be a better option than Bruce Martin in the second Test. Sodhi ended with six wickets in the series at an average of 44.16, having done much better in Dhaka, and McCullum was impressed by the 20-year-old's control and ability to turn the ball.
"I think we can forgive him for the Chittagong Test," McCullum said. "He bowled better as the Test wore on and everyone who has played Test cricket knows how nervous they are in the first game.
"His height is a big thing, he gets a lot of bounce. He is a wrist spinner so he gets considerable amount of turn on the ball. Not too many legspinners have that level of control, especially for such a young guy. That's what has really impressed me. He can land the ball where he wants to. He can extract the turn and bounce."
Sodhi, however, will be one of the nine players who will leave to make way for the ODI players. Peter Fulton, Dean Brownlie, BJ Watling, Doug Bracewell, Wagner, Trent Boult, Mark Gillespie and Martin will also be returning.
The players who have arrived for the three ODIs and the lone Twenty20 are Anton Devcich, Grant Elliott, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Adam Milne, Colin Munro and James Neesham. Tim Southee has been with the squad since they arrived on October 1.

Mohammad Isam is ESPNcricinfo's Bangladesh correspondent. He tweets here