Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan will leave for Australia tonight to join the 22-member preliminary squad for the upcoming tour of New Zealand scheduled to begin from 26 December, 2016.

Shakib had asked the Bangladesh Cricket Board for an extended period of leave after the completion of the Bangladesh Premier League 2016. According to our reporter, Tigers allrounder will board a flight at 10:10 pm at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to leave for Australia tonight.

The first batch of players, including Test skipper Mushfiqur Rahim and a number of others who were done with their Bangladesh Premier League commitments, left on November 8. The second batch of cricketers with Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah Riyad and others left last night.

Before going to New Zealand, the Tigers will be spending around two weeks in Australia in order to prepare for the series where they will play three ODIs, three T20Is and two Tests against the Black Caps.