On the 15th of December 2020, the decision of the West Indies to tour Bangladesh was announced. The series will comprise three ODIs and two tests that will be held over January and February 2021. Bangladesh is thus set to become the first country in Asia and the fourth in the world to host cricket.
The pandemic has taken a significant on the sport and both the Bangladesh Cricket Board and the Cricket West Indies. The governing bodies of the two teams respectively have been quite cautious about taking the final call about going ahead with the series. Reports say that Cricket West Indies agreed to conduct the series only after conducting thorough examinations of the Covid protocols laid down by the BCB, which they were highly impressed with.
The BCB had initially sent them the bio-bubble plans it had been following for the ongoing Bangabandhu T20 Cup, following which the officials of the CWI and ICC visited Bangladesh and provided detailed reports. The West Indies cricket team is supposed to arrive in Bangladesh on the 10th of January, 2021. This will be followed by three days of quarantine and four days of practice. Since the onset of the pandemic. This would be the third tour of the West Indies and the first series that Bangladesh would be playing.
West Indies to tour Bangladesh Series Overview
The West Indies to tour Bangladesh will begin with the ODI series and then followed by the test matches. Two tour matches are supposed to be held; a one-day match on the 18th of January and a four-day match from 28th of January to the 31st of January.
The first ODI matches, that is two of them, will be held at the famous Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Dhaka on the 20th and the 22nd of January respectively.
The third and last ODI match will be held on the 25th of January at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium of Chittagong. The first test match will be held in Chittagong from the 3rd to the 7th of February. The second test match scheduled from the 11th to the 15th of February at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Dhaka.
Players To Watch Out For
Both the teams boast of brilliant players. Bangladesh has a number of extremely talented players, including Mashrafe Mortaza, Shakib-Al-Hassan, Mushfiqur Rahim, and Tamim Iqbal. In Shakib, Bangladesh have found one of the best all-rounders in the world. Also, Tamim is considered to be one of its premier batsmen.
With bowlers like Mashrafe Mortaza, Mustafizur Rehman and Taijul Islam, it surely has a formidable bowling attack now. The West Indies have a bunch of talented players in Jermaine Blackwood, Jason Holder, Shai Hope and Shannon Gabriel.
As a team, it has been famous for its fast bowling attack. With bowlers like Keemar Roach and Shannon Gabriel, they would look to reclaim their reputation. Batsmen like Kraigg Braithwaite and Blackwood would also be looking at securing their reputation on the world map of cricket.
Why should you watch it?
The West Indian side had last toured Bangladesh in 2018-19. They had to concede a 2-0 series defeat to the hosts in the test series. They failed to clinch the following ODI series as well, but were successful in the T20 series.
The West Indies are currently touring New Zealand. They suffered innings defeats in both the tests they played. The T20 series has not gone well for them either as they have lost the first two of the three matches that have been played. The Jason Holder-led team would therefore be eager to prove their mettle overseas, especially in Tests and ODIs.
On the other hand, Bangladesh has been repeatedly trying to cement their reputation as a competitive team that is versatile across all formats. In an interview with Harsha Bhogle, Shakib-Al-Hassan stressed on how a win by Bangladesh is no longer an upset.
Bangladesh had an average 2020 before the pandemic struck, after it lost a series to Pakistan and won against Zimbabwe. Overall, the West Indies tour Bangladesh series promises to be a memorable fight between two teams who would be aiming to better their reputation in the sport. Fans of cricket, take note!
