NZ skip training due to strike

New Zealand did not train in Dhaka on Sunday to avoid travelling during the first day of a 60-hour general strike. However the main opposition party who called the hartal has said that the visiting cricket team have been exempted from the strike's jurisdiction.

"We have told the BCB on Saturday evening that New Zealand will be out of the hartal," Lt. Col. (retd) MA Latif Khan, BNP's sports affairs secretary, said. "Our party understands that the cricket team's visit is important, and there is a World Twenty20 scheduled to take place in the country next year."

But New Zealand remained concerned about their safety in Dhaka after they followed news of countrywide violence. There were also some incidents around the team hotel, which is heavily guarded by police. "We wanted to avoid travelling during the hartal. We just played it safe, but we will train in the afternoon tomorrow," said New Zealand's media manager Richard Irvine.

"We have adequate security and we are being well looked after. But we will still stay in touch with local authorities. We have our security man here, so we are not too worried."

Cricket and cricketers are usually considered above politics in Bangladesh but international cricket scheduled from now till April next year, which includes the World Twenty20 that will run from March 16 to April 6, also coincides with general elections in the country. The BCB are mindful of the situation and have beefed up security wherever the teams have moved.

The first one-day international between Bangladesh and New Zealand takes place in Dhaka on Tuesday.