Bangladesh set to face West Indies in first Test on Friday
After a disappointing clean sweep at home against South Africa in their last Test series, Bangladesh are gearing up to take on the West Indies in a two-match Test series, with the first match starting Friday in Antigua.
Ahead of the series, Bangladesh played a two-day practice match against a West Indies Board XI, which ended in a draw.
The highlight of the match was left-arm spinner Hasan Murad, who claimed a hat-trick, boosting his confidence ahead of the main series.
Bangladesh will be without key players Shakib Al Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto, and Mushfiqur Rahim for this series.
Shakib is unavailable due to personal reasons and public backlash over his political affiliations with the former ruling Awami League, which was ousted in a recent popular uprising. Najmul and Mushfiqur, meanwhile, are sidelined with injuries.
In Shakib's absence, Hasan Murad is expected to play a pivotal role as the team’s lead left-arm spinner. His hat-trick in the practice match has raised hopes of a standout performance in the upcoming games.
Hasan Murad played 31 First-class matches and bagged 139 wickets with 12 five-fors.
Bangladesh enter the series with a mixed Test record. After suffering a clean sweep against India and South Africa in their last two Test series, they previously registered a historic win against Pakistan in Pakistan.
Before this series, Tigers have played 20 Tests against the West Indies, winning four. However, this time the team will rely heavily on its younger players due to the absence of key senior members.
To compensate for Najmul’s absence, the selectors have called up Shahadat Hossain Dipu, who played 33 First-class matches and scored 1752 runs with three centuries.
The team will lean on allrounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who will also captain the side in this series.
With a relatively inexperienced squad, Bangladesh face a tough challenge but hopes to capitalize on the promise of its young players and the leadership of Mehdiy who has the experience of leading Bangladesh in the U-19 level.