The Independent Voice of West Indies Cricket

WIvBAN Preview: Battle between two misfiring batting units and stellar fast bowling attacks

Thu, Nov 21, ’24

Bangladesh will get their usual Caribbean welcome. They will play the first Test at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua, where they have opened the two previous tours with scores of 103 and 43 all out. This time, the visitors are also without two of their best batters, Mushfiqur Rahim and Najmul Hossain Shanto, so the job to tackle West Indies’ pace and bounce will become that much harder for an under-par batting line-up.

Jayden Seales and Shamar Joseph have the returning Alzarri Joseph to form a lethal attack. Kemar Roach is also in the squad, and given his superb record against Bangladesh, a four-man attack could be the way West Indies go. Add Anderson Phillip in the mix, and Bangladesh’s problems are likely to amplify.

West Indies, on the other hand, would like their batting unit to fire. The likes of Alick Athanaze, Kavem Hodge, Mikyle Louis, Keacy Carty and Justin Greaves are relatively new to the scene but it has been a year of promise for this batting line-up. They hold the key for the future, but their top seven have the lowest batting average among all teams this year. West Indies have won just one out of the seven Tests in 2024 so the batting, despite its lack of experience, must now step up.

Their opponents are also undergoing a batting nightmare. South Africa brushed aside Bangladesh at home in a 2-0 defeat that will rankle for a long time. Bangladesh’s overall batting has been ordinary, and now without Mushfiqur and Shanto, these West Indies Tests will feel like an uphill climb.

Two misfiring batting line-ups and impressive fast bowling attacks could produce a tight contest. It will be up to the likes of Kraigg Brathwaite and Mominul Haque to get their respective batting line-ups in order. The fast bowlers meanwhile will want to ensure that the runs come at a premium.

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