In a bid to put their ascendency in Test format, Bangladesh will lock horns with West Indies in the first of two-match Test series at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram today (Wednesday). The match is scheduled to start at 9:30 am (local time).
With the pandemic forcing fixtures across all sports to be shuffled last year, Wednesday’s series opener will be the first Test Bangladesh have played since February 2020. Therefore, team Bangladesh will be keen to mark their return in Test arena on a high note.
Despite the lack of match practice, Tigers have reason to be confident going into the first Test as they have won four of their past five Tests at home, with two of those victories coming against the West Indies in 2018.
In a major boost to their hopes, Bangladesh look set to have the services of premier all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan. The all-rounder suffered a groin injury in the final ODI against the West Indies but was still named in their 18-man Test squad. Tigers will be confident to dominate this feeble Windies side with spin duo Mehidy Hasan Miraz and Shakib expected to wreak havoc.
Batsmen Monimul Haque, Liton Das, Tamim Iqbal, Mohammad Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim and ace pacer Mustafizur Rahman are all tipped to make significant impact in the first Test.
West Indies on the other hand, will be looking for redemption as they were whitewashed 3-0 in the ODI series. Windies will put an entirely different team in this Test match compared to that which featured in the ODIs and they will be hoping to be much more competitive after their ODI struggles.
All in all, the first Test between the two is staged to be a riveting encounter. Tigers will also hope to hit the ground running in the ICC Test Championship ladder after losing the first three Test matches of this competition on the bounce.
