Bangladesh hope to rebound in T20I series with West Indies

West Indies, Bangladesh's cricketers are hoping the clouds of uncertainty ahead of their three-match T20 International series will blow away in time for Saturday's opening encounter at Windsor Park in Dominica. While it is expected the visitors will be much more competitive in both the T20Is and then the three-match One-Day International series, question marks over the availability of key players could have an unsettling effect on a squad in dire need of stability and direction.

Even after he endorsed Bangladesh's greater affinity to the white ball formats of the game, and especially the 50 overs-per-side version, information coming out of Dhaka suggests Test captain Shakib al Hasan will miss the ODI leg of the campaign. This is apparently because these matches do not form part of the ODI Super League where points are earned towards qualification for next year's World Cup in India.

"I expect us to be a lot more competitive in the white ball formats," said Shakib in the immediate aftermath of his team's ten-wicket defeat in the second Test in St Lucia on Monday which gave the West Indies a 2-0 sweep of the series. "The One-Day format is something we always do well in and we are not far behind in the T20 format either so I believe we will put on a show and be very competitive against the West Indies." Recent history bears out that confidence as Bangladesh won both the ODI and T20I series on their last visit to the region in 2018.

At last year's World T20, West Indies just managed to hold on for a three-run victory over the Bangladeshis, the only victory for the then title-holders at the main group stage of a massively disappointing campaign. Bangladesh have called up fast bowler Taskin Ahmed and off-spinner Mehidy Hasan