Shakib-less Bangladesh take on West Indies as underdogs

With no win this year and now without suspended all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh are set to take on West Indies full of famed limited-overs players.

Queen’s Park Stadium in Grenada will witness the first of the three-ODI series on Wednesday.

Shakib had captained Bangladesh to a 3-0 ODI series win over the Caribbeans in 2009 during the Tigers’ last outing there.

However, a dispute between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players’ Association back then had depleted the hosts.

Shakib, serving a six-month ban now due to disciplinary issues, had hit two fifties and took two wickets in that series.

“The series will be a difficult one without Shakib,” Mushfiqur Rahim said at a pre match press conference in West Indies.

But the 25-year-old wicketkeeper-captain was hopeful that the greenhorns will shine.

“In our last series, against India, some new young players have come in. This is yet another opportunity for them to prove a point or two before the World Cup."

Bangladesh lost their last ODI series 2-0 at home to India.

"It is going to be a big challenge for us but the boys are up for it, they are hungry and ready to do well. We are not a strong team on paper, but if we do well in the field , then hopefully it will be a great series for us,” Mushfiqur added.

West Indies, who lost their last bilateral ODI series in Bangladesh 2-3 back in 2012, are far from stable as their coach Ottis Gibson quit the job on the eve of the first match.

Former captain and team manager Richie Richardson will now take over as coach for the series.

This is unlikely to make the hosts feel very confident.

Despite the confusion over the coach, the hosts are playing full strength with Chris Gayle and Kieron Pollard ready to boost their hopes before the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand due in six months.

Experienced duo Ravi Rampaul and Kemar Roach will spearhead the West Indian pace attack.

Roach, who made a comeback to international cricket in the June-July series against New Zealand, has battled injuries for almost a year and had also undergone shoulder surgery.

"Roach has been out due to injury. Ravi has been our best bowler throughout the time he has been playing. There's also Jerome Taylor, who is back, and you can't forget Jason Holder who has done well since he has come into international cricket," Caribbean captain Dwayne Bravo said.

Bangladesh’s batting line-up will mostly depend on Mushfiqur as the other senior batsman Tamim Iqbal has been out of the side for the last few months.

Tamim, though, seemed to regain his touch during the home practice matches and in the one-off warm-up match against Grenada at the St. Andrew’s Progress Park on Monday, which the Tigers won by 95 runs.

Shohag Gazi will have to shoulder added responsibility in the absence of Shakib.

The 23-year-old spinner had picked up four wickets on his debut against the Caribbeans two years ago.

Left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak has it in him to threaten the hosts.

The pace duo of Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and Taskin Ahmed are also expected to play a crucial role for the visitors.

“We will try to take advantage of our Bangladesh A players in the side. At the same time, the practice game was great for us. Our batters and bowlers did well. The outfield wasn't great but the players are in good shape,” Mushfiqur said.