“He is still in rehab. It won’t be possible for him to come back before that,” said Minhajul

The start of play was delayed by 30 minutes because of damp patches on the pitch

At stumps, he was unbeaten on a glacial 44 off 120 balls and Travis Head was not out on nine after nearly three hours' play were lost to rain.

“I’m very happy with the way he [Soumya] performed,” Hathurusingha told the media in Napier today.

The left-hander now has 18,515 runs in international cricket in 460 innings at an average of 42.56.

Last week, Khawaja spoke about how the Israel-Hamas conflict had affected him. "When I'm looking at my Instagram and seeing innocent kids, videos of them dying, passing away, that's what hit me the hardest," he said.

Bangladesh team were in a festive mood in Napier, having spent a two-day Christmas break ahead of their three-match T20I series against hosts New Zealand starting tomorrow with the first game at McLean Park.

The year 2023 has been a ‘colourful’ one for Bangladesh, in the most literal sense, as they have spent most of their time playing in the red-and-green jersey and have donned the all-white one on only four occasions.

The Pakistan-born Khawaja, who has been keen to show his support for the people of Gaza during the ongoing conflict in the enclave, was reprimanded for wearing a black armband in the first test against Pakistan in Perth earlier this month.

This decision effectively ends the trio’s future in franchise cricket for the next two years.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the first Test against South Africa, Rohit stated that the loss was a tough one to digest.

South Africa have been victors in seven of India’s eight visits since the first in 1992 with one series drawn in 2010/11, but six of those successes have been by a single win margin.

“I have been following the Khawaja fiasco and I cannot say I’m surprised by the ICC’s stance,” Holding told The Australian.

India are seeking a first Test series win in South Africa and Conrad says his side are desperate to uphold their record of never having lost to the tourists on home soil.

Australia's Mitchell Starc said that his team was surprised at Pakistan's lack of pace, though he added that pace wasn't the "be-all and end-all" to fast bowling.

Khawaja has been denied permission by the International Cricket Council (ICC) to have a sticker showing a black dove holding an olive branch on his bat and shoes during the second Test against Pakistan.

Showers and potential thunderstorms are expected for the first day of play but are forecast to clear by Wednesday afternoon and Cummins said he was confident of a result.

2023 has been Bangladesh's busiest ever year in ODIs. They have played 32 matches as part of six bilateral series – four at home and two away– and taken part in the Asia Cup in August-September and the ICC World Cup in October-November.

At the Ground 2 of Sheikh Kamal International Stadium in Cox’s Bazar, centuries from Abdullah Al Mamun and Pritom Kumar enabled North Zone to seal a comfortable six-wicket victory over South Zone.

Pollard helped the West Indies win the World Cup in 2012 while the 36-year-old, who made a name for himself as a T20 specialist, won five Indian Premier League titles with the Mumbai Indians between 2013 and 2020.