It's true that Kiwi cricket is having to wait long, this far in vain, for someone to come and fill the shoes of the great Richard Hadlee and Martin Crowe. But the young and enthusiastic Kiwi cricketers, who arrived in the capital Tuesday night, are least bothered about the fact of not having a Brian Lara, a Sachin Tendulkar or a Wasim Akram in their team. They are happy to be average without the sparkle of the stars.
And in any one-day game no team can be simply written off. New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming knows well of his team's chances of making upsets. The Kiwi skipper promises to turn the Wills International Cup into a fascinating one.
``The knock-out tournament will be anybody's game, and we are looking forward to win the meet'', said Fleming in a press briefing at the Sonargaon Hotel yesterday.
The 'Black Caps' are to kick off the Wills International Cup when they feature in the only pre-quarterfinal match against Test-babes Zimbabwe at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on October 24.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) made rankings on account of recent performances of all the nine Test-playing nations and decided that New Zealand and Zimbabwe should fight it out for a place in the quarterfinals. ``We don't have any hard feelings for playing in the lone pre-quarterfinal,'' the sporting New Zealand skipper remarked.
``We are playing good cricket for the last one year. We have won a five-match one-day series (4-1) convincingly against Zimbabwe. Besides, we had a very good time in Australia. So, the chances here are open for everybody,'' said Fleming.
Although Fleming has his full confidence in his spirited side, the elegant left-hander tipped his more colourful neighbours Australia as hot favourites for the Cup ahead of world champions Sri Lanka.
The strength of the Kiwi side was however weakened by the absence of all-rounder Chris Cairns, who has a very good track record in the sub-continent. But Fleming feels his side is still very strong in the presence of a number of all-rounders.
``We are a pretty balanced side. We have a world class bowler in Simon Doull. Astle is a very good batsman and we also have a young talent in Craig McMillan. Besides, a persevering Harris is always among the runs and wickets,'' said the mild-mannered 24-year-old captain.
But Fleming considers that the main strength of his side lies in excellent fielding.
There is also a different view though. Recently, former New Zealand cricket coach Glenn Turner launched a blistering attack on the Kiwi side, saying it was in 'shambles' and a 'lawless society.' He, in his book, 'Lifting The Covers', termed the cricketers from down under as 'superstars.' Turner was equally harsh on the current coach, Steve Rixon, saying ``he (Rixon) didn't have the qualifications, never did.''
But the Australian coach of New Zealand appeared to have enough confidence in himself and in his side.
``Nathan Astle is a prolific opening bat when he is in job. In Craig McMillan we have a 22-year-old batsman with a lot of abilities. Chris Harris, who will bat down the order, is an outstanding one-day batsman. I think these are the key people to do the job with the bat,'' said a jovial Rixon.
On the format of the knockout tournament, Rixon said: ``Whatever the rules are, the teams will have to accept them. Obviously, the round-robin format is much easier. Specially, for a team like us, which is not considered in the top ranks, this makes it harder''.
``But it's a challenge for every team. We understand what our challenge is. And as the skipper said it's our job to meet it,'' said Rixon adding that this tournament will be a small part in their build-up for the next World Cup.
When asked if his team would face any problem for lack of preparatory match here. ``I can't see it will be a problem. We're playing cricket in Australia. We're used to travelling by now. The guys have accepted the travelling challenges. Besides, we came here three days before the tournament. So, that's no problem for us `` said Rixon.
The New Zealand cricketers flew in Dhaka straight from Australia and stayed back in the hotel to sleep through the hangover.
On Bangladesh cricket, he said, ``We didn't see the Bangladesh team when they visited New Zealand last year. Because, at that time we were in Australia.''