Bangladesh opt to bowl in first ODI against Windies

Bangladesh have won the toss and elected to field first in the first ODI of their three-match series against the West Indies at the Providence Stadium in Guyana today.

The start of the play has been delayed by over an hour due to wet outfield as it rained almost throughout Saturday night in Guyana. Even though it has been hours since the showers have stopped, the condition of the ground was not appropriate for the match to begin at the scheduled time. 

The conditions of the game have been revised as it will now be a 41-over contest. One bowler will be able to bowl nine overs while four others can bowl eight overs each. The first Powerplay will be from overs 1-8.

Both the sides have a player each debuting in this game. Left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed, who has played 22 T20Is so far, will be playing his first ODI today. Meanwhile, specialist spinner Gudakesh Motie will be debuting for the Windies. 

What is a bit surprising for the Tigers is that Anamul Haque, who has been called into the national side after over seven years on the back of outstanding performances in the 50-over format in the latest domestic season, has been left out of the starting eleven while Najmul Hossain Shanto, who has not been amongst the runs, got the nod. In fact, Shanto last played the format back in January 2021 when he started against West Indies in an ODI in Chattogram. 

Pitch of the Providence Stadium in Guyana. Photo: Collected

After losing both the Test and T20I series by the same margin of 2-1, skipper Tamim Iqbal would be desperate to turn the Tigers' fortunes around in ODIs -- Bangladesh's most preferred format. 

If the Test and T20I series defeats on this tour are overlooked, there are some positive signs for Bangladesh going into this series as the Tigers come on the back of ODI series wins over Afghanistan and South Africa. The series win over South Africa was the most recent one and it indeed was a historic triumph for the Tigers as they beat the Proteas for the first time away from home across formats. 

Also, even stats speak in favour of the Tigers in this format against the Windies. The hosts have lost their previous three ODI series against the Tigers and the last time the Caribbean side won an ODI series against Bangladesh was back in 2014.

But skipper Tamim did express his dissatisfaction over the lack of practice leading up to the ODI series due to inclement weather in the Caribbean. Bangladesh, however, would want to shrug it off and end the tour on a sweet note.   

Playing eleven:

West Indies XI: Nicholas Pooran (C,WK), Shai Hope, Rovman Powell, Shemarh Brooks, Brandon King, Kyle Mayers, Romario Shepherd, Anderson Phillip, Gudakesh Motie, Jayden Seales, Akeal Hosein

Bangladesh XI: Tamim Iqbal (C), Litton Das, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain, Nurul Hasan(WK), Mehidy Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Taskin Ahmed, Shoriful Islam, Mustafizur Rahman