Sylhet, Bangladesh

Veteran Pakistan cricketer Saqlain Mushtaq's knowledge of the Asian conditions will help New Zealand spinners prepare better for the away two-Test match series against Bangladesh, starting Tuesday (Nov 28) in Sylhet, head coach Luke Ronchi said. Considering conditions will offer more assistance to spinners, New Zealand picked five spinners in their squad, including part-timer Glenn Philips.

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Ronchi said the spin-bowling coach has had personal sessions with each of the potential starters, including Ajaz Patel, Ish Sodhi, Mitchell Santner and Rachin Ravindra, injecting the belief of topping crowd-favourite Bangladesh in their backyard. 

"I mean his (Saqlain's) knowledge of these parts of the world is fantastic, and the way he can talk with our spinners and sort of coach them in different areas with, I guess, the trajectory, lines, lengths, and different things like reading a wicket as well, sort of how it might play. It's fantastic," Ronchi said.

"And I guess he played a lot of international cricket. He's been around for a long, long time. To use his knowledge is a very big thing for us," he concluded. 

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Aware of how conditions pan out in this part of the world, Ronchi said they have come prepared. 

"I think that's the nature of cricket in Bangladesh, isn't it? There's a lot more spinners involved," Rochi opined. 

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"I think, with the training we've had and sort of the way the surfaces have played there, we're expecting a bit more up and down, a bit more turn. So, we'll see how it goes, see how it plays out," the former keeper-batter added.

How to tackle spin? Ronchi answers

Given the quality in the spin section, Ronchi believes bowlers will come off well in the two Tests while remaining aware of the threat the batters could face on the rank-turners. Explaining how the batters could potentially sideline the spin threat from Bangladesh, Ronchi said,

"I think, around the world now, you see reverse sweeping coming into it a heck load more now, which does make it more challenging for bowlers. But again, that's how guys are going to play it. They need to work out the surface and adapt to that surface in whichever way they think is going to help them the best to score the runs they can score," Ronchi said. 

He added since most players have already played plenty of matches in the sub-continent across formats, they have their plans placed for tackling the home team.

"But again, we play a lot of cricket in the subcontinent, we've played everywhere now that we've toured in Pakistan as well, so, the guys have their own tactics and how they play," Ronchi concluded.

After the first Test in Sylhet, Dhaka will host the second match scheduled for December 6 start.