Dense situation is a major reason for Bangladesh to go first, says Iqbal
Former Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal, for the first time since his inauguration nine months ago, chose to go head-to-head against the West Indies without the leadership of Jason Mohammed in the first ODI Mirpur. Both teams are playing their first game of the Super League World Cup, the route competition chosen by the teams for an automatic qualification into the 2023 ODI World Cup to be held in India.
There were discussions for both teams. Pacer Hasan Mahmud, who made his T20I debut last year, became Bangladesh’s 134th cricketing ODI. For the West Indies, more than half of their XIs make their ODI debut. Conditions were rough, said Iqbal who encouraged the selection to field. The ODI will also see the return of Shakib Al Hasan into the XI after he was prevented from reporting a past corruption incident.
At the toss, Mohammed said he liked the idea of batting first, saying the surface “looks like a good wicket.” He also said that the young players in the XI are looking forward to playing international cricket. As for his manpower, Mohammed said he is “trying to stay as calm as possible” while taking his position “one member at a time.”
Bangladesh XI: Tamim Iqbal (capt), 2 Liton Das, 3 Nazmul Hossain Shanto, 4 Shakib Al Hasan, 5 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Soumya Sarkar, 8 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 9 Hasan Mahmud, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Rubel Hossain
West Indies XI: 1 Sunil Ambris, 2 Joshua da Silva (wk), 3 Andre McCarthy, 4 Nkrumah Bonner, 5 Jason Mohammed (capt), 6 Rovman Powell, 7 Kyle Mayers, 8 Akeal Hosein, 9 Raymon Reifer, 10 Alzarri Joseph, 11 Possession Chemar
Sreshth Shah is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo