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He says England can now look to launch another white-ball revolution like after their disappointing 2015 World Cup

Matt Roller05-Nov-2023After England’s team of thirty-somethings were finally eliminated from the World Cup, the oldest man in their squad recognised the finality of this defeat to Australia, their fifth in a row and their sixth in seven games. “Everything good comes to an end,” Moeen Ali said. “Maybe the writing was on the wall, and we just didn’t see it as players.”This dismal title defence will prompt an inevitable overhaul in England’s ODI set-up. The side that lost by 33 runs in Ahmedabad on Saturday contained eight members of their victorious 2019 squad; the exceptions were 36-year-old Dawid Malan, the retiring David Willey and Liam Livingstone, who is averaging 10 in the World Cup.Unlike eight years ago, when England’s group-stage exit at the 2015 World Cup led to a complete revamp of their limited-overs set-up, there is plenty of talent waiting for an opportunity. The issue is that 11 of the 15 players at this tournament are a month into two or three-year contracts, so a complete refresh may not be straightforward.Related

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For once, England’s schedule may work in their favour. They always planned to take a second-string ODI squad for their three-match series against West Indies next month, and then their focus turns to the T20 World Cup next June. They have a nine-month break between ODIs before hosting Australia in late September 2024.But the pressing issues are whether they will give Jos Buttler and Matthew Mott the opportunity to defend the T20 title they won as captain and coach in Australia last year – and if so, how they will freshen up their squad to avoid a repeat of the debacle that has played out in slow motion over the last month in India.Ben Stokes will have knee surgery when he returns home and did not commit to making himself available for the T20 World Cup when asked on Friday. Jonny Bairstow has been short of runs across white-ball cricket over the last three months, while Malan’s T20 numbers have dipped.Moeen, who is on a one-year central contract, plans to speak to England’s coach and captain at the end of this World Cup to discuss his future. He is their vice-captain in white-ball cricket but has only played in four matches at this World Cup, has gone wicketless across 24.2 overs and, even after his fluent 42 against Australia, has only made 83 runs.”I’m obviously going to speak to Jos and Motty and see what they want from me, whether they want me around or whatever,” Moeen said. “I don’t know. If they say, ‘look we’re going to go with younger players and start again’ then I’m more than happy. I get it, I understand… everything good comes to an end at some point.”Rob Key, England’s managing director of men’s cricket, will return to India this week and join the squad in Kolkata ahead of their final group fixture against Pakistan on Saturday. He will have to make some difficult decisions over players’ futures – and Moeen admitted that, in Key’s position, he would rip things up and start again.Moeen said that he expects the core of the T20 side to remain the same ahead of next year’s World Cup, but said of the ODI set-up: “If I was in charge, I’d play the younger guys. I’d just start again and I’m sure they’re going to do that. It’s common sense, more than anything. You want that fearless approach again, and it’s a great time to start again.”Maybe the writing was on the wall and we just didn’t see it as players because we thought we’d be performing well. But I just think everything good comes to an end at some point. It’s very exciting, because going forward we’ve got some really good players we know will come back into the squad with that fearless [style]. That start we had in 2015 could start again.”Moeen delivered another blunt assessment of England’s performance, saying that they have “been rubbish throughout: batting, bowling and fielding”. But they face two more significant games against Netherlands and Pakistan, needing at least one win and quite possibly two in order to qualify for the 2025 Champions Trophy.”We’ve got to turn up properly as players,” Moeen said. “They are two massive games coming up. I know how important the Champions Trophy is in terms of experience at a world event because then for the World Cup, you get that experience – especially with, potentially, younger players coming in. It’s very important we make sure we qualify.”

Taniya Bhatia, who hasn’t played a T20I since the World Cup final in March 2020, is back in the squad

S Sudarshanan11-Jul-2022Offspinning allrounder Sneh Rana has made a comeback to the national side, finding a place in India’s 15-member squad for the Commonwealth Games starting July 29 in Birmingham. Rana, who returned to the side in 2021 after a five-year gap, had been rested for the white-ball tour of Sri Lanka that concluded last week.In another surprise move, the selectors included Taniya Bhatia as one of the two wicketkeepers alongside Yastika Bhatia, with Richa Ghosh left out of the main squad and named as one of the three standby players. Taniya’s last T20I appearance was the World Cup final against Australia in Melbourne in March 2020.Poonam Yadav, who didn’t get a game during the Sri Lanka tour, and Simran Dil Bahadur were the other two players in the standby list.Harleen Deol, who was included only for the ODI leg of the Sri Lanka tour, has also found a place in the squad.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Ahead of the tour to Sri Lanka, head coach Ramesh Powar had said that Rana had been rested with a view to managing her workload. “Sneh has been rested for this series and she is in the NCA working on her fitness,” he said. “Moving forward, the FTP that we have, there are about 20-25 T20 games and we want our players fresh for all the series. We want to manage the workload of the bowling unit as well as the batting unit. We are trying to balance it out. As of now, she is being rested and is working on her fitness.”Yastika’s elevation as the primary wicketkeeper, meanwhile, has been a recent development, with India having earlier preferred Ghosh’s skills with the big gloves in addition to her hitting down the order. Ghosh was India’s preferred keeper during the ODI World Cup this year, having been one of the stand-out players in the ODI series against New Zealand that preceded the tournament, scoring 146 runs at a strike-rate of 114.06 and an average of 48.66. But she managed only 81 runs in seven innings at the World Cup, getting into double figures only twice.Ghosh’s poor form continued through the Women’s T20 Challenge, and then into the tour of Sri Lanka, where Yastika took over keeping duties after the first T20I.Taniya has not played a competitive game since the Women’s T20 Challenge, but played a vital knock during that tournament, scoring 36 off 33 balls and putting on 82 with Harmanpreet Kaur to rescue Supernovas from 18 for 3 against Velocity. Taniya’s international record with the bat is modest, however, with her 22 T20I innings so far bringing her an average of 9.22 and a strike rate of 94.31.Jemimah Rodrigues, who made a successful return to the side in Sri Lanka after missing out on selection for the Women’s World Cup earlier this year, kept her place in the Commonwealth Games squad. She scored 72 runs in the three-match T20I series, including a player-of-the-match performance in the first match, where her unbeaten 36 bailed India out of trouble. S Meghana, who batted at No. 3 in each of those matches, also made the squad, though it is as yet unclear if she has been included as a back-up opener or as a No. 3.Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh and Pooja Vastrakar will form the seam attack, while Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Radha Yadav and Deepti Sharma are the main spin options, with support from Deol’s legspin and Rana’s offspin.This year’s Commonwealth Games will include women’s cricket for the first time, with the eight-team tournament to be played under the T20I format. India are grouped alongside Australia, Pakistan and Barbados in Group A. India begin their campaign with the tournament-opener against Australia on July 29, before taking on Pakistan on July 31.All matches will be played at Edgbaston in Birmingham.Squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Smriti Mandhana (ice-capt), Shafali Verma, S. Meghana, Taniya Sapna Bhatia (wk), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Deepti Sharma, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Thakur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Radha Yadav, Harleen Deol, Sneh RanaStandby: Richa Ghosh, Poonam Yadav, Simran Dil Bahadur

India spinners wrap up victory shortly after lunch on day four

Alan Gardner16-Feb-2021India cruised to victory in a little over a session on the fourth day at Chepauk, Axar Patel collecting a five-wicket haul on debut as England went down by a crushing margin of 317 runs – emphatic retribution after the tourists had gone 1-0 up on this ground less than a week earlier.Having seen his side dominate the match from toss to finishing tape, Virat Kohli’s satisfaction was as palpable at his disgruntlement after the first Test. On a classically subcontinental surface, England twice could barely match the individual contribution of India’s first-innings centurion, Rohit Sharma, and were left with precious few scraps with which to slink off to Ahmedabad ahead of the day-night encounter, their six-match winning run in away Tests at a halt.Related

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The only slight regret for another enthusiastic crowd came in the absence of another R Ashwin landmark for them to acknowledge – he finished with 8 for 96, narrowly short of becoming only the fourth man to score a century and take ten-for in a Test.England’s task on their return to the ground was a near-futile one, but there was the potential to spend time in the middle against India’s spinners and salt away knowledge for the battles ahead. As it was, only Joe Root spent any significant amount of time at the crease – even 33 from 92 balls was modest by his recent standards – and barely a shot was played in anger until Moeen Ali decided to go down swinging with five towering sixes before being last man out, stumped off Kuldeep Yadav.Fittingly for a Test that saw some grumbling about the pitch but was more memorable for the displays of high-class wicketkeeping, the game ended with the ball in the hands of Rishabh Pant. This was only the sixth time in Tests that a match had featured five or more stumpings – and India’s march to victory on the fourth morning began with another, as Dan Lawrence charged at Ashwin only to be nutmegged, leaving Pant to seal his fate after collecting brilliantly down the leg side.That dismissal brought out Ben Stokes, searching for pointers in his ongoing duel with India’s offspinner. Despite digging in as the ball ripped and spun – one delivery from over the wicket nearly took him on the chin before Pant collected it above his head – Stokes was rendered near-strokeless, facing 38 balls from Ashwin of which 36 were dots, the last also bringing his wicket as an inside edge ricocheted off pad to slip.Patel picked up his third, following the dismissals of Dom Sibley and Jack Leach on the third evening, when Ollie Pope shovelled a slog-sweep straight to deep midwicket, and although Mohammed Siraj dropped Root with the lunch break approaching, Kuldeep Yadav was finally able to enjoy the feeling of taking a Test wicket, more than two years after his previous appearance, when Ben Foakes swept without conviction and was taken on the edge of the square.India rounded the rest up without much delay, as Root received a near-unplayable ball, which took the top glove as he pressed forward and flew to slip, and Olly Stone became another victim of the sweep to complete Patel’s five-for. Moeen had some fun with 43 off 18 balls as England at least managed to surpass their first-innings total – but nothing could take the shine off as India rewarded the returning Chepauk crowd with a thumping win, and the afternoon free.

He ended with 6 for 7 from 3.2 overs to bowl India to a series win

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Nov-2019When Deepak Chahar speared in a yorker to dismiss Aminul Islam, he, in one go, became the first Indian man to complete a T20I hat-trick, collected the best ever figures in a men’s T20I, and sealed a 30-run win against Bangladesh to close out the three-match series.Despite the presence of dew in Nagpur, which negated the effect of Chahar’s primary weapon – swing – he was still more than a handful for the Bangladesh batsmen with his incisive bowling, earning him 14 dots from his 20 deliveries.Here’s how ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball commentators recorded his wickets:2.4 Chahar to Liton Das, OUT, 2.5 Chahar to Soumya Sarkar, OUT, Chahar on a hat-trick12.6 Chahar to Mohammad Mithun, OUT, 17.6 Chahar to Shafiul Islam, OUT, 19.1 Chahar to Mustafizur Rahman, OUT, slapped straight to deep point and that’s a fifth for Chahar. He becomes the fourth Indian to pick up a five-for in T20Is. You’ll look at the replays and say some of those wickets came when batsmen were looking for big shots, but hey, a five-for is a five-for. India one strike away from a series win.19.2 Chahar to Aminul Islam, OUT, he’s got a hat-trick!! Deepak Chahar has the best figures ever in T20Is. 6 for 7. How incredible is that? You wanted a proper fast bowler’s wicket? There you go, he says. Spears in a yorker, and flattens the off-stump. Just for those in doubt, the hat-trick has been spread across two overs. What a win, India take the series 2-1.

Play was abandoned after Dane van Niekerk had taken her team to 177 for 8 in a rain-hit game

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Sep-2018Persistent rain forced a washout in the second women’s ODI between West Indies and South Africa on Wednesday. South Africa had won the first match, and the final ODI on Saturday will now be the series-decider.Points from this series go towards the ICC Women’s Champion, meaning both teams got one point each towards that.Rain had caused a delay right at the start, with the match initially reduced to 43 overs a side. It was further reduced to 38 overs after another hour was lost 10 overs into the South Africa innings. Put in to bat, the visiting side made 177 for 8 in the 38 overs, driven by captain Dane van Niekerk’s 53 off 66. Chloe Tryon made 37 off 44, but, that apart, there weren’t any significant contributions.Van Niekerk and Tryon came together at 85 for 4 in the 22nd over, putting on 67 runs to stabilise South Africa and take them towards a competitive total.Deandra Dottin was the most successful bowler, taking 3 for 29 in eight overs before rain ended proceedings.

England will continue to treat Moeen Ali as a batsman who “bowls a little”, according to their coach, Trevor Bayliss

George Dobell10-Jul-2017He may have taken a ten-wicket haul in the Lord’s Test, but England will continue to treat Moeen Ali as a batsman who “bowls a little”, according to their coach, Trevor Bayliss.While Moeen, who claimed the best figures by an England spinner in a Lord’s Test since 1972, has risen into the top 20 on the ICC’s bowling rankings – and, at No. 4 in the allrounder rankings, is ahead of team-mate Ben Stokes – England look likely to stick with Liam Dawson as their first-choice spinner.But if that appears to be a demotion for Moeen, Bayliss insisted it is more an attempt to alleviate him of too much pressure or expectation and suggested it was no impediment to his being England’s “best spinner”.

Bayliss on…

Jonny Bairstow: “That catch down the leg side was probably the best he’s taken since I’ve been here in the last three summers. Keeping to the spinners was not dissimilar to what we saw in Bangladesh and India and I thought he kept pretty well out there. I thought he did a very good job.”
Alastair Cook: “He’s loving it! I was having a bit of a laugh watching him in the field. He was out running around in the covers. He looked like he was enjoying it. For someone in that stage of his career, it’s a good sign.”
Gary Ballance: “The three guys who batted on Saturday night did an exceptional job. Gary made 30-odd in difficult circumstances. You can’t average 100 in county cricket without being able to play.”

“We’ll stick with one spinner and one batter that bowls a little,” Bayliss said after victory at Lord’s. “And that’s important for Mo more than anything. He wants to be in the team as a batter that bowls a bit so we’ve selected him as a batter and the second spinner.”It takes that little bit of pressure off him. He does see himself as a batter first and a spinner second. And I suppose that doesn’t mean he’s still not our best spinner but his No. 1 job is to bat.”Moeen enjoyed an outstanding Test with the ball at Lord’s, taking his career average below 40. But, ahead of that game, his bowling average since the start of 2016 was 53.02 and there were times in India, in particular, when it seemed he was losing his way with the ball in a haze of confusion over what the side required of him. At the same time, he was scoring runs more consistently, recording four Test centuries in 2016, including two in the series in India.While Dawson experienced a somewhat chequered game at Lord’s – he suffered a pair (he has been dismissed for a duck in three successive Test innings) but recovered after a nervous start with the ball to claim four wickets in the match – Bayliss feels the control his bowling can offer complements Moeen, in particular, and the make-up of the England side in general.It is for that reason he was preferred to Adil Rashid for selection, despite Rashid’s 23 wickets in the series against India. In the one Test Dawson and Rashid played together, the former conceded three runs an over and eight boundaries from his 43 overs, the latter conceded 5.15 runs per over and 18 boundaries from his 29.4 overs.”Moeen and Adil Rashid are very similar characters,” Bayliss said. “Both are attacking spinners and we just felt if we could get someone who could control a little better – and hopefully take some wickets as well – that might set us up more long-term.”In the second innings, Dawson did that role very well. If it is tight at one end, it allows Mo – as an attacking style offspinner – to attack at the other.”Liam admitted he was very nervous in the first innings. It was his first Test match at home and his first Test at Lord’s. It was one of those games when it didn’t quite come out for him how he would have liked in that first innings, but I thought he showed the character we know he has to come back and bowl better in the second innings. It was a good partnership with Mo.Liam Dawson claimed the big wicket of Hashim Amla in the second innings at Lord’s•Getty Images

“Dawson has the opportunity at the moment but there are a number of other good, young spinners – and Rash himself – pushing hard. But Dawson is the one with the opportunity at the moment. I thought in the one Test match he played in India, he was probably our best spinner. He deserves that opportunity.”Bayliss also feel the team selected by England for the Lord’s Test has the versatility and depth to prove effective on most surfaces.”The combination we had in this game could play on a lot of wickets,” he said. “We’re lucky that we have Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow and Ali who can bat five, six and seven. That allows us to have three other pace bowlers and another spinner. Somewhere along the line, we could throw in someone else in one of those positions, whether it is another batter, another pace bowler if we need one. It just gives us plenty of options.”

Jack Taylor, the Gloucestershire offspinner, has been banned from bowling due to a suspect action

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jun-2016Jack Taylor, the Gloucestershire offspinner, has been banned from bowling due to a suspect action. Taylor was previously reported in 2013 and had to remodel his action.The news comes less than 24 hours after Taylor scored an unbeaten hundred to help Gloucestershire to a remarkable Championship victory over Worcestershire at New Road. He underwent independent testing last week and was found to have a bowling action that exceeds the permitted 15 degrees of elbow extension.He has therefore been suspended from bowling in county cricket with immediate effect, as per ECB regulations, until his action has been re-tested and found within the limits.Taylor has taken 53 wickets at 39.39 in first-class cricket – where he also has four hundreds – but his all-round ability was important for Gloucestershire in limited-overs cricket. In the club’s 2015 Royal London Cup success, Taylor was named Man of the Match after scoring 35 from 26 balls and taking 3 for 43 in the final against Surrey.After being called in 2013, and missing the rest of the season to undergo remedial work with Gloucestershire and at the ECB’s national academy in Loughborough, he was cleared to resume bowling in February 2014.He has been an ever-present in the Championship this season, taking 14 wickets and averaging 52.40 with the bat, as well as featuring in Gloucestershire’s one NatWest T20 Blast game to date.

A burst of five wickets for 17 runs in just 30 balls shortly after lunch ensured the balance of play favoured Leicestershire at the end of the first day’s play of their Division Two against Surrey at Grace Road.

ECB/PA07-Jun-2015
ScorecardA burst of five wickets for 17 runs in just 30 balls shortly after lunch ensured the balance of play favoured Leicestershire at the end of the first day’s play of their Division Two against Surrey at Grace Road, dramatically raising their hopes that after winning their first Championship match for 992 days last week, they might add another within a week.Zafar Ansari and Rory Burns put together an impressive opening partnership after the visitors had been inserted on a well-grassed pitch, before both fell with the score on 82.Left-arm seamer Rob Taylor, in the Foxes’ side at the expense of Tom Wells, had Burns leg before on the back foot, and in the following over, Ansari padded up to an inswinging delivery from Charlie Shreck that would have knocked out his off-stump.Kumar Sangakkara and Dominic Sibley took the score on to 122 before Sangakkara, who had played and missed several times at Taylor’s outswingers, edged an attempted drive at Clint McKay and was well held by Andrea Agathangelou at second slip for 21.The Sri Lankan’s dismissal was the first of a clatter of wickets. Steve Davies, in outstanding form with the bat this season, was trapped on the crease by a Ben Raine inswinger and went leg before without scoring.Ben Foakes was unlucky to play an authentic leg glance only for Leicestershire wicket-keeper Niall O’Brien to take a fine catch diving away to his left, but Gary Wilson had already been perilously close to going leg before to McKay when he was pinned in front by a ball that seamed back in.James Burke, making his debut for Surrey, edged a Charlie Shreck outswinger to O’Brien without scoring, and at 139 for 7 the visitors were in some disarray.Sibley was batting solidly, however, and he was joined by Tom Curran in building a partnership of 82 for the eighth wicket. Curran, attacking, and at times riding his luck, went to a maiden first class half-century by launching off-spinner Jigar Naik high over long-on, but then edged an attempted reverse sweep to be caught behind for 60.Leicestershire skipper Mark Cosgrove threw the ball to Agathangelou, and with his first delivery for his new county since being signed, the occasional legspinner spun the ball past the edge of Chris Tremelett’s bat to hit the off-stump.The innings, and Sibley’s long vigil – his 74 came off 154 balls – ended when the right-handed batsman edged Raine down the leg side to give O’Brien his fourth catch of the innings.Leicestershire openers Angus Robson and Matt Boyce then saw off eight overs before the close, to leave Leicestershire, who won their first county championship match in 38 attempts when they beat Essex last week, well satisfied with their day’s work.

Australia’s team performance manager Pat Howard has expressed his disappointment at the Sydney Sixers Twenty20 team not passing on information about Pat Cummins’ condition before he was diagnosed with a back stress fracture

Daniel Brettig04-Nov-2012Australia’s team performance manager Pat Howard has expressed his disappointment at the Sydney Sixers Twenty20 team not passing on information about Pat Cummins’ condition before he was diagnosed with a back stress fracture.Cummins is missing a second consecutive home summer due to injury, having developed soreness across the Champions League in South Africa that was revealed to be a stress fracture on his return home to Australia. Having already lost the allrounder Shane Watson to a pre-planned decision to bring him home to prepare for the home Tests, the Sixers did not initially inform Howard of Cummins’ discomfort.Howard, who remained in touch with the Sixers general manager Stuart Clark during the tournament, said he would be meeting with the Sixers at the next available opportunity.”We’re obviously disappointed we didn’t have the information as quickly as we should’ve,” Howard told ESPNcricinfo. “But for the opportunity to sit down with Sixers management on that, there’s a fair few other things going on. We know Pat’s out, and we have to deal with that, that’s life and you keep moving on. But we were disappointed with how that transpired.”Brett Lee meanwhile has volunteered to help Cummins rework his action after he was ruled out for the season with a stress fracture of the back. Cummins, 19, missed most of last summer with a foot injury and suffered a side strain during this year’s tour of England, and his latest injury is not the first back problem he has encountered during his short career.After scans revealed the extent of his injury, Cummins wondered whether he had fallen into bad habits with his action while playing so much short-form cricket, instead of bowling in the same manner he would when trying to swing a red ball. Lee had a number of injury troubles early in his career and he said he would be happy to pass on some advice to Cummins regarding the best way to bowl at express pace without damaging the back.”I’m not saying in any way, shape or form that Pat needs to change his action,” Lee told the . “But there are some things I reckon I could help him with [such as how] to clean his action up to make it a little bit easier on his back.”The one thing you don’t want as a fast bowler is hyper-extension and counter-rotation [like] he has [and] as I did when I was at the same age … I had that same set-up where there was a lot of twisting and turning in my action, which is where you get your pace from, but it does come at a cost.”Lee shrugged off injuries throughout his career to finish with 310 Test wickets and 380 one-day international victims, but unlike Cummins he did not make his Test debut until he was 23. Cummins was 18 when he wore the baggy green for the first – and so far, only – time against South Africa at the Wanderers last November, where he was Man of the Match for his seven wickets in Australia’s win.Cummins was especially impressive in the way he worked over the veteran Jacques Kallis, who struggled with a few short deliveries before edging to slip. The back injury means Australian fans will be denied the chance to see Cummins take on Kallis and the rest of the South Africans again this summer, and Lee said it was disappointing given what Cummins could have achieved on the Australian pitches.”This is a real blow. He’s a great fellow and I just want to see him out on the field and playing,” Lee said. “I’m shattered for Pat because someone like him bowling 155kph to 160kph at the Gabba would be exciting to see. It would be great to see him match what the South Africans have. It’s disappointing and frustrating to think we haven’t got that now, though it’s not the poor bugger’s fault. I’m 100% confident he’ll be back, but I would’ve loved to have seen him bowl to Jacques Kallis who, in my opinion, is the world’s best cricketer.”

ESPNcricinfo previews the one-off Twenty20 international between Bangladesh and West Indies in Mirpur

The Preview by Dustin Silgardo10-Oct-2011

Match Facts

Bangladesh v West Indies, October 11, Mirpur
Start time 1700 (1100GMT)Marlon Samuels smashed a century in the warm-up Twenty20•Associated Press

Big Picture

It’s been a tough year for Bangladesh. After convincing home one-day series wins against New Zealand and Zimbabwe last year, which helped them go above West Indies in the ICC one-day international rankings, many expected 2011 to be the year Bangladesh would permanently shed the “minnow” tag. Instead, they failed to make it past the group stages of the World Cup, were thrashed at home by Australia and then lost both the one-off Test and ODI series in Zimbabwe. Their captain and vice-captain were sacked after that tour and it is under Mushfiqur Rahim that they attempt a climb back up the rankings.In coming up against West Indies, they revisit the moment when it all started going wrong – when they were bowled out for 58 by the same opponents in a crunch World Cup game in Mirpur, a performance that caused their angry fans to aim stones at the team bus, only to hit the visitors’ bus instead.Bangladesh’s strength at home is based on the effectiveness of their spinners on slow, turning tracks. West Indies, though, might not find the conditions as alien as sides like New Zealand and Zimbabwe. The pitches in the Caribbean of late have often resembled subcontinent ones, and four of West Indies’ batsmen will come to Bangladesh straight from having played for Trinidad & Tobago in the Champions League Twenty20 in India.West Indies do not have Sunil Narine or Samuel Badree, who were so successful for T&T in Indian conditions, in their squad, but the presence of Devendra Bishoo and Andre Russell, who bowls a good slower ball, means they have an attack that can adapt to the conditions. They established their status as favourites by winning both their practice matches against a strong BCB XI outfit, one through a strong bowling performance and the other through a century from Marlon Samuels.For Bangladesh, a Twenty20 international is the last way they would want to start a comeback. They have only played 16 in their history and their last T20 win came way back in 2007. For West Indies, Twenty20 represents everything that is right and wrong with their cricket. A shock win in England, and T&T’s eye-catching performance in the CLT20 suggest this might actually be the format in which West Indies see most success in the near future.

Spotlight

Mushfiqur Rahim is stepping into the shoes of a man who led from the front. Mushfiqur is as not as outstanding an individual performer as Shakib. He is safe behind the stumps and handy with the bat, but has not won Bangladesh as many games as Shakib has – he has just one hundred in limited-overs internationals. Having been handed the captaincy he will want to contribute more than just cameos down the order and may promote himself.Marlon Samuels’ comeback to international cricket has not really taken off. But in the warm-up Twenty20, he blazed his way to 102 off 56 balls. In the absence of Chris Gayle, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Dwayne Bravo, Samuels is the most experienced player in the West Indies limited-overs squad. This series is an opportunity for him to show he still has the capability to become the world-class batsman he was expected to be when he first arrived on the international scene, way back in 2000.

Team news

Bangladesh have picked the uncapped Elias Sunny in their squad and may want to give him a chance before the one-day series starts. That may mean resting one of Mahmudullah or Nasir Hossain. Alok Kapali and Mohammad Ashraful are the experienced hands in the squad but there may only be place for one in the batting line-up.Bangldesh (probable): 1 Tamim Iqbal 2 Imrul Kayes 3 Naeem Islam 4 Shakib Al Hasan 5 Mushfiqur Rahim (capt & wk) 6 Alok Kapali 7 Mahmudullah 8 Abdur Razzak 9 Shafiul Islam 10 Elias Sunny/ Nazmul Hossain 11 Rubel HossainWith several senior players returning, the West Indies side will have a completely different look to the one that upset England at The Oval. They used just one specialist spinner in their XIs for both the practice matches but considering the conditions may play both Devendra Bishoo and Anthony Martin, meaning Kemar Roach could be left out. Kieron Pollard is not eligible to play in T20Is since he did not play the Caribbean T20, so Danza Hyatt will probably occupy a slot in the middle order.West Indies (probable): 1 Adrian Barath 2 Lendl Simmons 3 Darren Bravo 4 Marlon Samuels 5 Danza Hyatt 6 Denesh Ramdin (wk) 7 Andre Russell 8 Darren Sammy (capt) 9 Ravi Rampaul 10 Devendra Bishoo 11 Anthony Martin/ Kemar Roach

Pitch and conditions

Scores at the Shere Bangla Stadium have seen some strange fluctuations this year. This is the same ground where Bangladesh were bowled out for 58 against West Indies and 78 against South Africa during the World Cup. But there have also been scores of 370, by India in the World Cup opener, and 361, by Australia. The low scores were more due to poor batting, though, so the pitch can be expected to provide plenty of runs if the batsmen do not make careless errors.

Stats & Trivia

• This will be the first Twenty20 international to be played in Bangladesh since 2006. It is the first T20I at the Shere Bangla Stadium
• Though they have won a Test and one-day series in the West Indies, Bangladesh have never won an international match against West Indies at home

Quotes

“I believe we can win the series. West Indies are a good outfit. We have to play well to beat them.”
“Their attack is full of spinners and we have a good mix of pace and spin. It will be the spin of Bangladesh versus the pace of West Indies.”