Second Test preview: Bangladesh v Windies
The West Indies need to come up with a solution to their weakness against spin as the Dhaka wicket promises to be slower and dryer.
The West Indies can count themselves lucky that two days of the first Test were lost due to rain because on the balance of what play there was, the men from the Caribbean would have been starring down the barrel of defeat.
Bangladesh were not that impressive with bat or ball but the Windies were plain woeful when they were up against debutant Elias Sunny. And it's not the first time they have struggled against spin as Pakistan's Saeed Ajmal has proved in the past that they are pretty clueless when up against the tweakers.
Darren Sammy and Ottis Gibson have promised in the past that they are working on their weakness, but there haven't been any improvements and it's difficult to see how they will be able to turn things around on a Dhaka wicket that promises to be slower and drier.
The inexperience of Lendl Simmons, Kraigg Braithwaite, Kirk Edwards and Darren Bravo told, but the beauty of being on tour is the limited reserve options (Kieran Powell is the only batsman that didn't play) means you more often than not get a second chance. They will get an opportunity to show more patience and build bigger partnership, something which was lacking in Chittagong and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who showed signs of finding form in the series opener, and Marlon Samuels will be the men who need to guide the youngsters.
The Windies will need to make space for Shane Shillingford in their team as they need two spinners if they are going to bowl Bangladesh out twice. The only problem is who do you drop? One of Fidel Edwards, Ravi Rampaul and Sammy need to make way. It's unlikely to be Sammy as he is the captain so it's between Edwards and Rampaul. It will be tough on either as they have both been better bowlers than Sammy.
As for the hosts it's a case of don't fix it if it ain't broken. Imrul Kayes is under pressure as he hasn't had a decent score in a while, but the selectors will be hesitant to chop and change after a solid team display.
There were plenty of contributions with the bat, but it is important that one batsman take charge and notch up three figures to give the team a psychological boost. Mushfiqur Rahim's elevation to captain has seen him bat with a lot more maturity while his former skipper Shakib Al Hasan has accepted his demotion well and continues to chip in with runs and wickets.
As for Sunny, cricket at the highest level doesn't get much better than six for 94, but the Windies batsmen will treat him with more care in the second Test. Bangladesh will no doubt again look to the spinners to stifle the life out of the visitors.
<b>Key men:</b><br><i>Bangladesh:</i> If there is one batsman in the Bangladesh line-up that is 'comfortable' with playing big knocks then it is <B>Tamim Iqbal</b>. He played with a lot more caution in the first Test which was good to see.
<i>West Indies:</i> If the Windies are to post a total of any real substance they need <b>Shivnarine Chanderpaul</b> to come to the party. The experienced campaigner certainly has the talent to make big scores but whether he still has the temperament that made him a top player remains to be seen.
<b>Last Five Head-To-Head Results</b><BR>October 2011, First Test: Match drawn<br>July 2009, Second Test: Bangladesh won by four wickets in Barbados<br>July 2009, First Test: Bangladesh won by 95 runs in St Vincent<br>June 2004, Second Test: West Indies won by an innings and 99 runs in Jamaica<br>March 2004, First Test: Match drawn in St Lucia
<B>Prediction</b><br>With the pitch expected to be slow and dry and the Windies batsmen struggling against spin, it's difficult to go against a <b>home victory</b>.
Online betting firm <a href='http://www.skybet.com/betting/cricket/c30.html' target='_blank' class='instorylink'><B>Sky Bet</B></a> has Bangladesh at 3/1 in the <a href='http://www.skybet.com/betting/cricket/c30.html' target='_blank' class='instorylink'><B>betting</B></a> for overall series victory. Visit Sky Bet for the latest cricket betting.
<b>Probable Teams</b><br><i>Bangladesh:</i> Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, Shahriar Nafees, Shakib Al Hasan (capt), Raqibul Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (capt, wk), Naeem Islam, Elias Sunny, Shahadat Hossain, Rubel Hossain, Nazmul Hossain.
<i>West Indies:</i> Lendl Simmons, Kraigg Braithwaite, Kirk Edwards, Darren Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Darren Sammy (capt), Ravi Rampaul/Shane Shillingford, Fidel Edwards, Devendra Bishoo.
<B>Dates:</b> 21 – 25 October<BR><B>Morning session:</b> 09:30 – 11:30 (03:30 – 05:30 GMT)<BR>Afternoon session: 12:10- 14:10 (06:10 – 08:10 GMT)<BR>Evening session: 14:30 – 16:30 (08:30 – 10:30 GMT)<BR><B>On-field umpires:</B> Kumar Dharmasena and Nigel Llong<BR><B>Third umpire:</B> N Shah<Br><B>Match referee:</b> Andy Pycroft
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