Bangladesh clinched both the series by showing tremendous effort against the vesting West Indies.
In the last series when both the teams fought in a T20I contest, Bangladesh came up victorious and the series held in the home of the Caribbean. Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman played pivotal roles for the Tigers in that triumph where Shakib struck 103 runs in three matches and Mustafizur bagged eight wickets for the Tigers.
Mustafizur could be an automatic choice for the host in their best XI for the series opener, but there is some uncertainty over Shakib’s participation as the world’s best all-rounder had sustained an injury during the practice session on Sunday.
Steve Rhodes, the Bangladesh coach, however, hope that Shakib will be available in the match saying, “The injury is not something to get worried about.”
Later at a pre-series press conference, Steve Rhodes said, “Shakib sustained an injury, but we hope he will be fit enough to participate in the series opener.”
The T20I captain of Bangladesh got hurt in a finger of his right leg when he was batting in a net session. Right after the blow, Shakib went back to the dressing room.
The West Indians are keen to bounce back in the T20I series. The World Champions of the shortest format has been experiencing horrible time since last 12 months when they lost 10 out 13 T20Is while the other one ended with a no-result.
“The people back home deserve a Christmas gift. We hope to close out the year with a win. We still think T20 is our premier format. We obviously haven’t had the results to be in the recent past proud of. But here’s a chance to turn things around and ending 2018 in a good way,” Carlos Brathwaite, the T20I captain of West Indies said on Sunday.
In the last 12 months, Bangladesh played 13 T20Is as well, and they could manage only three wins for them. And overall, Bangladesh faced the Caribbeans in nine T20Is and won four of them.
While the T20 series opener will take place in Sylhet Monday, the remaining two will be held in Dhaka on 20 and 22 December respectively.