Chattogram calls — can Bangladesh batters finally answer?

So far in the ongoing One Day International series, New Zealand have seen two different sides of Nahid Rana.

The 23-year-old quick had a rough opening game at the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, where he gave away 65 runs and took only one wicket.

A couple of days later at the same venue, on a different wicket, Rana brought fire to the visiting side as he ran through their batting lineup to take 5-32 — his second five-wicket haul in ODI cricket.

Now, at Chattogram, the tall lanky speedster will have to adjust again as the wicket here is famously known for its batting-friendly nature.

On Wednesday, ahead of the series decider against the visitors, Rana was found examining the wicket for quite some time, possibly visualising what he would do the next day at the very same ground.

Following the practice session, he hinted big runs on this wicket, saying that it will have bounce but also come on to the bat nicely.

That means batters will have to take responsibility to make the most of the conditions. Bowlers, once again, will need to be on the money to set the game up, just as the bowling group — including Rana — has been doing throughout the series.

Pace bowling coach Shaun Tait echoed the same sentiment. "Last game was really good. There are obviously huge expectations here in Bangladesh — from the media, the public, whoever it is — and there are expectations for the batting group to perform well all the time," he said ahead of the third and final ODI. "Now, whether that's realistic or not I don't know, but we saw some good individual performances last game and managed to win comfortably. What we obviously want to see is a little bit more consistency with that. Hopefully tomorrow (Thursday) they come out and do the same thing — that would be great," he added.

Tait also believes the wicket will favour the batters more, given that there has not been much domestic or international cricket at the venue leading up to this series.

"It looks a good wicket, but it's difficult for me to tell exactly what it's going to play like. Traditionally, I think Chattogram is a pretty good batting surface and sometimes it can keep a little bit low, but I don't want to read into the wicket too much. What I do know is we're coming off a good win and, at the end of the day, it's international cricket — you just get on with whatever's in front of you," he said.

"Whatever surface is there — look, I'm not an expert on wickets. But the square down here in general actually looks quite good, and the curator I was speaking to today said he was quite confident because there hasn't been as much traffic on it lately. So I think they've had a chance to make the square look really nice," he added.

Tait also confirmed that Rana is fit to play and bowl fast on this surface as well, despite concerns surrounding his workload, given that he is set to be rested during the upcoming T20 series against New Zealand.

"I think the way he's bowling, he's fine to play. There are different stages — before tournaments, after tournaments — when rest periods come. What I do know about Nahid Rana is that he's a very fit man. He bowls at high pace, but he's also an extremely good athlete. The way he's bowling at the moment, opposition teams are not going to want to face him. If Nahid Rana is out of the team, from an opposition perspective, they'd certainly be happier with that," he said.

Tait, himself one of the fastest bowlers in the history of the game, finds many similarities with Rana. "There are a lot of similarities, but a few differences too. He's very fit — fitter than I was. I was a bit heavier and it was more difficult for me to bowl fast, but it seems a little bit easier for him because he's a great athlete. Really lean and strong, he's got a good build for a fast bowler. That's why I have a lot of confidence in him, especially in these conditions — really hot, backing up games. I was a little bit different. I probably got injured a little bit more than him," he said.

The former Australian World Cup winner also praised Rana's yorker-hitting ability from the last match, where he took two wickets with that delivery. "What I really enjoyed about this series so far was his yorkers in the last match. That sort of brings back the days of Waqar Younis — a fast bowler coming in, taking wickets at the top and then cleaning up the tail with fast yorkers. I love that. Personally, I love that," he said.

Tait also said that Mustafizur Rahman, who missed the first two matches due to injury, might get some game time in the third ODI.

"I think he'll be available for selection. I'm not 100% sure. He bowled today (Wednesday)— maybe three or four overs. I don't know what the selectors are going to do with the team, to be honest. I actually don't know. But he was bowling fine today," he said.