'He has to keep pushing' – Simmons throws challenge to Sarkar

Phil Simmons, the Bangladesh head coach, insisted that recent off-field administrative changes within the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) have not affected the team's preparation for the upcoming white-ball series against New Zealand, beginning April 17.

"First of all, it doesn't affect what we do, how we train, and it doesn't affect the camp that we had. It was planned and it was carried out," Simmons said. "If you ask how it affects the players, you'll have to ask the players because I can't really see any psychological effect."

He indicated that Bangladesh are likely to continue with the opening pair of Tanzid Hasan Tamim and Saif Hassan for at least the first two ODIs. "I think we've sort of settled because we've had a good partnership in the last series, and then in the warm-up game here, Saif showed that he's getting back to what we expect him to be. So I think we're settled for now," Simmons said.

However, he addressed the situation of Soumya Sarkar, who has been out of the playing XI since last October despite a match-winning 91 against the West Indies.

"My thoughts are still the same. Soumya is excellent. He played well against West Indies. We had to make that choice. He missed a lot of cricket… So we had to make that decision and, unfortunately for him, the others did well. So he has to keep pushing to get back in," Simmons said.

Simmons also highlighted a concern regarding the batting order, noting that national team middle-order batters often play higher up in domestic cricket. Players like Afif Hossain, Litton Das, Mahidul Islam Ankon, Towhid Hridoy, and captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz typically bat in the top order domestically compared to their international roles.

"Well, it seems like all our batters bat in the top order in domestic cricket… But when they come here, they have to fit into different roles. So far, the players have been trying very hard to adapt. I think that's one of the key aspects of international cricket – you have to adjust to what is required, not necessarily what you are used to," he added.

Simmons stressed that Bangladesh need improvement across all batting phases. "We have room to improve in every aspect of our game, especially in batting. There's a lot of scope for improvement from the top order through to numbers five, six, seven and eight. We are continuously working to make sure we improve," he concluded.