Windies target rankings rise as Bangladesh come calling

OverviewWindies v Bangladesh
Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound
1st Test
Tuesday 4 July, 14:00 GMT, 10:00 local

This one promises to be an extremely competitive series, with the Windies hosting Bangladesh for two Test matches with the first starting at North Sound on Wednesday 4 July.

The home side are coming off a good showing against Sri Lanka. They lost the third of three Tests for the series to be drawn 1-1, but performed well for the most part.

They start the series at No.9 in the MRF Tyres ICC Test Team Rankings, just behind their opponents, but a 2-0 series win will take them above Bangladesh to No.8, and that’s on their radar.

As Courtney Browne, the chief selector, pointed out after the Sri Lanka series, “We congratulate the team on a drawn series but recognise that victory was within our reach”. They will hope to take that next step against Bangladesh.

There were three players in the main that drove the Windies’ fortunes against Sri Lanka.

Shane Dowrich, the first-choice wicket-keeper, was the batting star, totalling 288 runs in six innings with a century and two half-centuries. His 125* in the first Test was the prime reason for his team’s win.

Jason Holder, the captain, underscored his all-round potential again with 198 runs – including a best of 74 in the final Test – and 12 wickets, nine of which came in the same Test as that half-century.

And Shannon Gabriel, the paceman, tore through the Sri Lankan batting in the second Test for returns of 5/59 and 8/62. In all, he picked up 20 wickets in the series.

Even though the team didn’t always perform as a unit, the three stars had good support from Kieran Powell, Roston Chase, Kraigg Brwathwaite, Shai Hope and Devon Smith at crucial times, while Kemar Roach showed positive signs a lot of the way.

But, as Browne said, the selectors expect “a greater effort from the top five batters and see them return to the focus and discipline we know they are capable of in the upcoming series against Bangladesh”. If that happens, the Windies will be well placed.

Bangladesh, meanwhile, haven’t played much Test cricket of late. When they did earlier this year, against Sri Lanka at home, they lost 1-0.

Mominul Haque, the No.3 batsman, was their best with the bat then, scoring two centuries on his way to 314 runs in four innings. But over four innings, there were only four other half-centuries, seniors Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim scoring one each. Similarly, Taijul Islam was the only one to pick up wickets regularly – 12 in total – with the rest of the bowlers not showing too much penetration.

The return of Shakib Al Hasan, as captain, should help the team. Shakib is one of the premier all-rounders in the game and though not in particularly good touch of late, can add a lot to the team in both departments.

Importantly for Shakib and his teammates, they did well in the two-day tour game against a Cricket West Indies President’s XI side. Iqbal (125) and Mahmudullah (102) struck centuries, while Abu Jayed and Shafiul Islam picked up two wickets apiece. Shakib also signalled a return to decent form with an innings of 67.

If the two teams perform at their best, this one should be fun, the positions on the rankings table making for added motivation.

Key players

Jason Holder (Windies): Every once in a way, the Windies captain shows why he was thought of so highly when he started out. Like in that last Test against Sri Lanka, where he had one of the more memorable outings in recent times. A dependable batsman anyway, if he can strike that nagging line outside off – from his great height – he can trouble the batsmen no end.

**Tamim Iqbal (Bangladesh):**Bangladesh’s best batsman has had an up-and-down time of late, but struck good runs in the warm-up game. He is better than his average of 38.68 from 54 Tests suggests, and will be itching to make the most of the opportunities he gets, starting with the tour of the Caribbean.

Conditions

The last time they played Test cricket in North Sound was back in July 2016, when India beat the Windies by an innings and 92 runs. A lot has changed since then, and the Windies have only six of the players who played that game in their current squad. There are runs to be scored at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium but rain might have a say on occasion over the five days.

Squads

Windies: Jason Holder (c), Devendra Bishoo, Kraigg Brathwaite, Roston Chase, Miguel Cummins, Shane Dowrich (wk), Shannon Gabriel, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Keemo Paul, Kieran Powell, Kemar Roach, Devon Smith

Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan (c), Abu Jayed, Imrul Kayes, Kamrul Ismal, Liton Das, Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Nazmul Hossain, Nurul Hasan, Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Taijul Islam, Tamim Iqbal