In the last one-day series of the year, Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza will look to end the year on a positive note along with taking steps to make up his World Cup squad. On the other hand, Rovman Powell, the stand-in captain of the Windies will keep his eyes on to break the deadlock of not winning a one-day series since August 2014.
In the last one-day series when both teams tested their strength, Bangladesh outplayed the Caribbean boys in their home in July this year. The Tigers are up to repeat the act as they got Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal back in the squad after they have recovered from injuries.
Bangladesh have played 17 one-dayers this year so far, and they came out as victorious in 11 of them. So it was one of the great years when Bangladesh dominated in the 50-overs International cricket. They also have a sweet memory of beating the Windies in their home soil.
“Apart from losing the two finals, we have a great year so far. It would have been a good memory if we had won the Asia Cup final. So it helped to increase our rating. And obviously, it will be great if we can end the year with a series win over the Windies. We have to face big challenges next year, and a series win will help us to stay confident,” Mashrafe said in the pre-match press conference on Saturday at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
While playing the one-dayers against the Windies, Bangladesh will keep an eye on preparing their squad for the next year’s World Cup that will take place in England in June. But the Bangladesh captain said the home series will not be an ideal stage for the World Cup preparation as the wickets are not similar to the condition where the tournament will take the field.
“I think what we are expecting at the moment is not possible to get from our wickets. Actually, it is tough for our condition. It is not possible to compare Dhaka wickets with the wickets of England or New Zealand. We may have some similarities in Chittagong or Sylhet, but not here,” said Masrhafe.
“We need to focus on how we can win, and this is the most important thing. I think we can get a better preparation for the world cup during the New Zeland series. The wickets of the World Cup will be closed to those of New Zealand. What we can get positive from here is winning the series. That will make us confident in the next series in New Zealand,” The Bangladesh captain further added.
Bangladesh are in a conundrum to finalize their best XI before heading into the series as they have four in-form openers in the squad. It perhaps prevented the Bangladesh captain to indicate anything about the playing XI though he indicated that he might rely on the pace arsenal, unlike the Tests.
Bangladesh have managed to win nine one-dayers out of 31 that they have played against the Caribbean. Four of them were at home. Now, the Tigers have a good chance to increase the winning ratio.
The stand-in captain of Windies, Rovman Powell insisted that they understood the challenge of the series, and they were upbeat to accept that as well.
"It will be challenging. Any team is difficult to face with their home advantage. Bangladesh has been very good at home. We are fully aware of it as a team. They beat us in the Caribbean, and we are looking to do the same to them here," Rovman told the reporters.