Bangladesh and West Indies will face each other in the 1st Test match of the two-test match series on 22nd November at Sir Viv Richards Stadium.
Match Preview:
Bangladesh will be up against the same team and in the same condition which has brought them daunting and awful memories. In their last two outings at the same venue, the Bengal Tigers were bundled out for just 103 and 43.
Adding insult to injury, this time the side will be without their veteran batter Mushfiqur Rahim and the captain Najmul Hossain Shanto. Rahim has a finger injury while Shanto has a groin strain.
And in their absence the onus will lie on Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz, particularly the latter. Stepping as a captain in the absence of Shanto, Miraz will need to lead from the front as he has been doing in the recent past. Although his bowling has been underwhelming of late, Bangladesh will lean heavily on his experience and leadership to inspire the team through this challenging series.
This series will be important for Bangladesh as they have faced miserable times in international cricket recently. After defeating Pakistan at their home, they are yet to win a series as they were vanquished by India, Afghanistan, and South Africa.
Since the batting lineup is quite inexperienced, the side will rely more on their bowling unit, particularly pace attack.
Talking about the home side, the West Indies will be relying on their pace attack as Jayden Seales and Shamar Joseph will bolster the fiery attack with returning Alzarri Joseph. Kemar Roach is also the part of the squad who in any case will further add experience and depth to the already potent bowling attack.
While their bowling attack is well-paced their batting attack is still inexperienced. Players like Alick Athanaze, Kavem Hodge, Mikyle Louis, Keacy Carty, and Justin Greaves have shown promise but remain inexperienced. With the top seven averaging the lowest among all Test teams in 2024, the pressure is mounting.
West Indies have only won one Test in their last seven outings, so, they will be looking to take full advantage of the home ground facing a very much similar opponent.
Probable Playing XI:
West Indies:
1 Kraigg Brathwaite (capt), 2 Mikyle Louis, 3 Keacy Carty, 4 Alick Athanaze, 5 Kavem Hodge, 6 Justin Greaves, 7 Joshua Da Silva (wk), 8 Alzarri Joseph, 9 Jomel Warrican, 10 Jayden Seales, 11 Shamar Joseph
Bangladesh:
1 Mahmudul Hasan Joy, 2 Shadman Islam, 3 Zakir Hasan, 4 Mominul Haque, 5 Shahadat Hossain, 6 Litton Das (wk), 7 Jaker Ali, 8 Mehidy Hasan Miraz (capt), 9 Taijul Islam, 10 Nahid Rana, 11 Hasan Mahmud
Pitch and weather report:
The pitch of the said stadium tends to favour fast bowlers, so the pace attack is supposed to thrive. Talking about weather, there is a rain prediction in all five days of the upcoming Test match.
Head-to-head record:
A total of 20 games have been played between the two-sides, the 14 games have been won by the West Indies side while Bangladesh stood victorious in 4 games.
Prediction:
Given their stellar record against Bangladesh, West Indies is expected to win the first Test match of the series.
Where to watch:
Pakistan: Tapmad
India: Fancode app
Caribbean: Disney plus platform
UK: TNT streaming services
Others: CricHD
