Mohammad Mithun, the top-order batter and the captain of Bangladesh A team, said he is hoping for competitive cricket in West Indies tour.  Bangladesh A will take on their West Indian counterparts in two unofficial Tests and three one-dayers. All the matches will be played at the Darren Sammy National Cricket Stadium.  “I believe the series will be more competitive than the domestic cricket,” Mithun said on Thursday at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium before leaving Dhaka for West Indies. “The West Indies A team is a strong opponent. The players who would play for the national team are part of their A team. So this series is going to be a tough one for us,” Mithun added.  Mithun played his last international match back in 2021. He has been out of the national setup since. But this time, he is going to lead the A team on an important tour.  “It’s a challenge for me,” Mithun said. “But I’m not feeling any extra pressure. We are going to represent Bangladesh A team. If someone does better in this tour, he might get a chance in the national team.” Read: Mithun, Mizan shine in BCL with centuries Abdur Razzak, the national selector, who is traveling with the team to the West Indies, this series may provide Bangladesh with a solution for their Test debacle.  “We know how we play in Tests. We want the players of the Bangladesh A team to get competitive cricket so that they can prepare themselves for the toughest form of cricket,” Abdur Razzak told the media. 

Batters  Sabbir Rahman and Soumya Sarkar, who lost the national team place for their lean performance in the international arena, have been added to Bangladesh A team that will tour the West Indies next month.  Sabbir played his last international match against Afghanistan in Chattogram back in September 2019, while Soumya’s last match was against Australia in Dubai in 2021. Now both the batters get a new chance to revive their international career. If they can do well in the forthcoming tour, the first in many years, of the Bangladesh A team, they might get a call to the national team in the coming years.  Along with them, Mohammad Mithun and Saif Hassan will also tour the West Indies for Bangladesh A. Both Mithun and Saif failed to impress when they played in the national team for the last time.  Bangladesh A team will arrive in St Lucia on July 31, and they will play two four-day matches and three one-dayers. All the matches will be played at the Daren Sammy Cricket Ground.  Read: Bangladesh's Shohidul gets 10-month ban for failing dope test  The first four-day match will begin on August 4 while the second one will commence on August 7. The one-dayers are scheduled to be played on August 16, 18 and 20.  Bangladesh A team for four-day matches:  Shadman Islam, Saif Hassan, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Zakir Hasan, Mohammad Mithun, Fazle Rabbi Mahmud, Shahadat Hossain Dipu, Zaker Ali Anik, Naeem Hasan, Tanvir Islam, Khaled Ahmed, Rejaur Rahman Raja, Mukidul Islam Mugdho, Mrittunjoy Chowdhury, Anamul Haque Bangladesh A team for one-day matches:  Soumya Sarkar, Saif Hassan, Mohammad Naim, Mohammad Mithun, Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Zakir Hasan, Shahadat Hossain Dipu, Zaker Ali Anik, Sabbir Rahman, Naeem Hasan, Rakibul Hasan, Rejaur Rahman Raja, Khaled Ahmed, Mukidul Islam Mugdho, Mrittunjoy Chowdhury

Hosts West Indies tightened the grip on the Antigua Test on the opening day after Bangladesh batted poorly in the first innings on Thursday. The opening day was a miserable day for the Tigers as they failed to bat well and also failed to field in a way they needed most. In reply to Bangladesh’s paltry first innings of 103 runs, the Windies made 95 for two in 48 overs to end day one. Kraigg Brathwaite and Nkrumah Bonner remained unbeaten for 42 and 12 respectively. Bangladeshi pacers bowled lion-heartedly but the fielders failed them missing three catches. Also read: Antigua Test: Bangladesh 103 all out in first-innings In the first 15 overs, West Indies scored only 15 runs. They started their first innings on a cautious note on the brown wicket that has plenty of help for the pacers. They lost the first wicket in 44 runs Mustafizur Rahman, who was playing his first Test after a long gap, scalped the wicket of John Campbell for 24. Raymon Reifer was the second Windies man to fall. Ebadot Hossain took the second wicket. Earlier, the hosts won the toss and bowled first. They scalped three wickets inside 31 runs, and six wickets inside the first session. Six Bangladeshi batters failed to add anything to their names. It was the first time in cricket’s history when a team suffered six ducks in two consecutive Tests. Bangladesh’s last six ducks came against Sri Lanka last month at home. But centuries from Mushfiqur Rahim and Liton Das had concealed the batting failure. But this time around, Shakib Al Hasan was the only Bangladeshi batter to show some resistance. He made 51. Apart from Shakib, Tamim Iqbal (29) and Liton Das (12) were the only other batters to have scored a double-digit innings. “I have no explanation of this batting display,” Shakib, the Bangladesh captain said in the post-day briefing. “I don’t have anything to say about this batting. I’m not sure anyone in our team has any explanation.” While scoring 29, Tamim became the second Bangladeshi batter after Mushfiqur Rahim to have scored 5000 runs in Tests. Also read: Tamim becomes fastest Bangladeshi to score 5000 runs in Test Jayden Seales and Alzarri Joseph bagged three wickets each for the hosts while Kemar Roach and Kyle Mayers took two wickets each. After a dismal show on the opening day, Bangladesh have already in trouble in this Test. The Tigers need to demonstrate something big to come out of this situation in Antigua.