On the eve of the first match of Bangabandhu Bangladesh vs West Indies Cricket Series,  Bangladesh and West Indies cricket teams showed solidarity with  Balck Lives Matter movement, a decentralized political and social movement.

Also read: BD v WI: First sighting of Tigers in 10 months

Along with the Tigers, the West Indies cricket team also joined the cause as all of them kneeled down and raised one hand to show their solidarity with the movement— Black Lives Matter.

Also read:West Indies in Dhaka for series against Bangladesh

The Black Lives Matter movement erupted last year after a policeman killed an unarmed black man, George Floyd, at Charlotte in North Carolina of the United States last year. Right after this incident, the movement spread throughout the world. The movement was also addressed as George Floyd protests.

Also read:Bangladesh to show solidarity with Black Lives Matter movement

The movement was initiated first time in 2013 when three women started the movement after the acquittal Gorge Zimmerman, who shot dead unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin.

Also read:West Indies series: Bangladesh ODI, Test teams announced

During West Indies’ England tour in June-July last year, they kneeled down to show solidarity with the movement. Hosts England also joined the cause.

Also read:West Indies to arrive in Dhaka Sunday

Bangladesh are taking on the West Indies in three ODIs and two Tests. The first ODI is taking place in Mirpur on January 20 while the second match will also be played at the same venue on January 22. The third ODI and first Test will take place in Chattogram on January 25 and February 3, and the final match of the series, the second Test, will be played in Mirpur from February 11.

Bangladesh won the toss against West Indies and opted to bowl in their first international match in 10 months after the breakout of Covid-19 pandemic. With this match, Bangabandhu Bangladesh vs West Indies Cricket Series began on January 20 at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

Also read:West Indies in Dhaka for series against Bangladesh

Bangladesh gave a chance to Hasan Mahmud, the young right-arm pacer, in this game. He earlier played a T20I for the Tigers. Hasan is the only debutant for the hosts while West Indies are fielding six uncapped players as many of their regular players have opted out from this series citing Covid-19 situation.

Also read:West Indies to arrive in Dhaka Sunday

This series will be marked as Shakib Al Hasan’s comeback series after he served a one-year ban imposed by the ICC due to failing to report corrupt approaches made to him.

Also read:Bangladesh to show solidarity with Black Lives Matter movement

At the same time, it will be the first series under Tamim Iqbal’s full-time captaincy. He is appointed as Bangladesh’s ODI captain after Mashrafe Bin Mortaza stepped down from his post during Bangladesh’s last ODI series before this.

Also read:Akram Khan: Bangladesh shouldn't take West Indies lightly

Bangladesh XI: Tamim Iqbal (capt), Liton Das, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mahmudullah Riyad, Soumya Sarkar, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Hasan Mahmud, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain

Also read: West Indies series: Bangladesh ODI, Test teams announced

West Indies XI: Sunil Ambris, Joshua da Silva, Andre McCarthy, Nkrumah Bonner, Jason Mohammed, Rovman Powell, Kyle Mayers, Jahmar Hamilton, Raymon Reifer, Alzarri Joseph, Chemar Holder

When Bangladesh national cricket team will take on West Indies on Wednesday in the first match of a three-match ODI series, it will be the Tigers’ first international fixture in 10 months. In comparison, the West Indies have played plenty of cricket in 2020 after the Covid-19 breakout including tours of England and New Zealand.

With this series, the two teams also commence their journey in the ICC World Cup Super League – a series of competitions that will determine  The top eight teams of this competition will enjoy a direct entry to the World Cup 2023 in India.

In this series, Bangladesh will have a new-look batting order as Najmul Hossain Shanto will play at No. 3 and Soumya Sarkar will have to adjust at the lower order, maybe at No. 7.

At the same time, the Tigers are expected to  have a new look pace-bowling attack as well. With the omission of the former captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, the team management will have a chance to test the bowlers like Hasan Mahmud and Shoriful Islam, who earned their maiden call ups to Bangladesh’s ODI set-up.

While Hasan has already played a T20I for the Tigers, Shoriful is a fresh face who just shone for the Junior Tigers playing a pivotal role during Bangladesh’s ICC U-19 World Cup-winning campaign in South Africa in early 2020.

Also read: Bangabandhu Bangladesh vs West Indies Cricket Series begins Wednesday

In Tuesday’s last practice session before the series starts, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan and Shoriful were the most hard-working pacers in the nets. At least two of the 3  might be included in the playing XI along with the main pacer Mustafizur Rahman.

This series will also be marked as Shakib Al Hasan’s comeback series after serving a year-long ban imposed by the ICC for failing to report corrupt approaches made to him by the bookies.

Shakib played his last international game back in 2019 against Afghanistan at home. Since then, he was out of all cricketing activities until made a comeback to competitive cricket with the Bangabandhu T20 Cup which took place late last year. But he failed to impress either with the ball or bat. He played nine games in the event and scored 110 runs and took six wickets.

In his comeback match after serving the ban, Shakib will be batting at No. 4 as the head coach of Bangladesh, Russell Domingo and captain, Tamim Iqbal, revealed recently. Shakib was Bangladesh’s most successful No. 3 in recent times, notably during the 2019 World Cup. So moving to a lower position will surely pose a new challenge for him. But the head coach and captain believe this will give the premium allrounder some extra breathing space.

Also read: Najmul the new number 3 in Bangladesh ODI team

While Bangladesh are busy finalizing their playing XI, West Indies are looking forward to a fresh start as they are missing at least 13 members of their regular set-up. Most of them said no to this series citing their concern over the Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh.

“It is (playing well) something that we will look at. It depends on how you play on the day. Obviously, a lot of the guys will be making their debut. Once you have the belief within yourself and within the team that you can win games, these things are achievable. It showed in the India-Australia Tests. We have the same mindset of playing some good cricket starting tomorrow, and hopefully results can go on our side as well,” Jason Mohammad, the West Indies stand-in captain for ODIs, told the media in the pre-series media interaction.

Jason also expressed their concern over facing Shakib in the ODI series. He addressed Shakib as “one of the best” going around in the world now.

Also read: Akram Khan: Bangladesh shouldn’t take West Indies lightly

In contrast, Bangladesh’s captain Tamim Iqbal said that they are looking forward to their own game rather than thinking much about the opponents. He said: “We are focusing on our own game. We have to keep our process right. At the international level, every team is a strong team and they will surely play hard to win the games.”

The teams have faced off each other in 38 ODIs, and Bangladesh came up victorious in 15 occasions with losing 21 instances. 17 of those 38 matches were played in Bangladesh, and the hosts won six of them with losing 10, and the other match ended up with no-result.

The match will start at 11:30am, and T-Sports and Nagorik TV will broadcast it live along with BTV.

Bangladesh cricket team, along with the touring West Indies, are all set to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.

In the first ODI of three-match between Bangladesh and West Indies, both the teams will perform a special act for the cause.

Nizamuddin Chowdhury, chief executive officer of BCB, confirmed the development but declined to disclose what the special acts will be.

Also read: On the Black Lives Matter Protests and other Mass Demonstrations against Systemic Racism and Police Brutality

“You have seen the West Indies team. They played a few matches during the Covid-19 outbreak and they showed some special activities to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. We also planned to do something for this. You’ll come to know before the match what we’ve planned,” he told the media.

Three women started the Black Lives Matter movement in the US in 2013 after the acquittal of George Zimmerman, who shot dead unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin. Protests erupted again last year after the killing of George Floyd, who died in May after a police officer knelt on his neck during his arrest in Minneapolis.

During West Indies’ England tour in June-July last year, they kneeled down to show solidarity with the movement. Hosts England also joined the cause.

Also read: Bangabandhu Bangladesh vs West Indies Cricket Series begins Wednesday

Bangladesh will take on the West Indies in three ODIs with the first match taking place on January 20 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium while the second match will also be played at the same venue on January 22.

The third and final ODI of the series will be played in Chattogram on January 25. After this series, both the teams will lock horns in a two-match Test series.

After waiting for over nine months, the game of cricket is all set to make a return to Bangladesh as the hosts are going to take on the touring West Indies on January 20 in the first encounter of three-match ODI series at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

Also read: Mehidy eyes to regain old form against WI

With this game, the Bangabandhu Bangladesh vs West Cricket Series will take the field. The next match of ODI series will take place on January 22 at the same venue while the final and third ODI will be played in Chattogram on January 25.

Tamim Iqbal, Bangladesh’s new ODI captain, during the pre-series media interaction, said he is looking forward to establishing a Bangladeshi brand of cricket, and the West Indies series is his first assignment.

“What I always prioritize is to establish its own brand of cricket for Bangladesh. I always say that every cricket-playing country has its own style to play the game of cricket. So, I don’t think we should follow others. We may not be as strong as West Indies or we may not be well-built like Australia, but we still have some advantages which are missing by the other teams,” Tamim told the media.

Also read: Najmul the new number 3 in Bangladesh ODI team

Aiming to establish Bangladesh’s brand of cricket, Tamim is going to make some adjustments in ODI batting line-up as he is backing the decision to send Soumya Sarkar at the lower order and moving Shakib Al Hasan to No. 4 from his preferred position of No. 3.

“We’ve informed Soumya about his new role before the BCB President’s Cup. We told him that he would need to bat at a certain position and advised to prepare accordingly. So it’s not a surprise to anyone except some of you (media). Along with the batsman, we all know it long before,” he explained Soumya’s new role.

Also read WI ODIs: BCB picks 3 new faces looking to the future

While explaining Shakib’s new challenge, Bangladesh captain said: “The message was very distinct to Shakib. I’ve also talked to him personally, and he said he has no problem to accept it. He understood it. And it (batting at No. 4) will give him breathing space because he is going to make a comeback after a long time. We all know how good he was at No. 4. His record is enough to back this claim. We are well-informed about it. He is happy to bat at No. 4. I have also told him to talk to me if he wants his previous batting position back, and he is okay with the decision.”

Shakib was Bangladesh’s No. 3 during the last ICC ODI World Cup in England where the southpaw accumulated 606 runs in five fifties and two centuries with the best figures of hitting 124*. Overall, he batted at No. 3 in 23 games and scored 1177 at an average of 58.85 with two centuries. It was known that Shakib had pushed the team management during the World Cup to allow hit to bat at No. 3.

Previously, Tamim led the Tigers in three ODIs in Sri Lanka, but he failed to shine as a captain as Bangladesh endured 3-0 to the Lankan Lions. During the last few years, Tamim led different teams in the domestic circuit.

Also read: Bangabandhu T20 Cup: Tamim promises something ‘out of the box’ for Barishal

“I captained in two domestic events right before playing the same role at the international circuit, which came as a big advantage for me. It was unfortunate that we’ve missed some international fixtures due to the Covid-19 breakout throughout the world. The two domestic events were very tough for me, but I’ve learnt a lot. I think people understand what they do by the time going, and I’ll also go through the same. And at the same time, you’ve to understand what the situation you’re facing off. I think you’ve to think differently sometimes,” he added.

Bangladesh will have to make this series a success in order to set themselves in a good position on the point table of the ICC ODI League so that they can end up as one of the best eight teams to ensure a direct World Cup entry in 2023, which might pose an extra pressure for the hosts in this ODI series.

Also read: WI emphasise spin bowling to check Tigers

“You always have to face pressure to win the games. We’ll play a maximum of 27-28 ODIs before the World Cup 2023. Every single game is important for us as long as we want to gather adequate points to ensure direct qualification for the World Cup. Every match is important for us so that we ended up as one of the best eight teams in the ongoing ICC ODI League,” Tamim told the media.

After the three-match ODI series, both the teams will lock horns in a two-match Test series starting from February 3 in Chattogram. The second Test and the final match of the series will take place in Dhaka from February 11.