The West Indies will make a last minute decision on the availability of Andre Russell for Monday's clash against Bangladesh at the Country Ground in Taunton, Somerset.
Russell limped off the field against England as he continued to struggle with his knee injury. West Indies management knew that coming into this tournament that they would have had to keep patching him up and taking him along. However, they would have expected a bit more from their X factor, as his fitness is becoming more and more a concern for the technical staff and the Caribbean people. Also, if the West Indies is to reach far in this tournament, Russell is expected to play a big role and his impact must start from today.
His pace will be needed Monday against an increasingly confident Bangladesh team, that is confident of victory against the Caribbean side.
The opinion of Bangladeshi opener Tamim Iqbal that his team will go into the clash as favourites can't be taken as arrogant because he is coming from a factual angle. In recent times Bangladesh has enjoyed a lot of success against the West Indies in ODI cricket. They defeated them in the finals of the tri-nation series coming into this World Cup and that is where he is drawing his confidence from.
West Indies captain Jason Holder has taken it in stride, saying that he has no problems coming into this game as underdogs.
The 27-year-old allrounder is preparing to make his 100th appearance in One-Day Internationals. He made his debut against Australia at the WACA in Perth on February 1, 2013, and has so far completed the career double of 1,634 runs and 125 wickets.
His highest score of 99 not out came against Papua New Guinea in the ICC Cricket World Cup qualification tournament in Harare in February 2018. His best bowling was a match-winning 5-27 against India at the Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in Antigua, two years ago. Holder said the West Indies will be on the hunt for their second win as they look to make a leap up from the sixth position in the marquee event.
“Everyone is hungry for runs. I guess a few guys haven’t gone on and capitalized on starts and some haven’t got any starts. It is another opportunity against Bangladesh to get some momentum. (Nicholas) Pooran has been really good and I’m very pleased with his progress so far. He has shown a lot of maturity so far and has a lot of shots in his locker. I guess, for him, marking himself really harsh, he’d like a hundred. Let’s hope he steps up tomorrow and carries it deeper,” Holder said.
“I don’t think there are any easy teams in this World Cup. We are mid-table with five games left and the ball is in our court. We have to play some consistent cricket going into the back half of the tournament. It’s quite a good stage to pick up some momentum. It’s a challenge against Bangladesh, so we just want to get over them and move forward.”
Teams:
West Indies: Jason Holder (capt), Fabian Allen, Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell, Shannon Gabriel, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope (wk), Evin Lewis, Ashley Nurse, Nicholas Pooran, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Oshane Thomas.
Bangladesh: Mashrafe Mortaza (capt), Abu Jayed, Liton Das (wk), Mahmudullah, Mehidy Hasan, Mohammad Mithun (wk), Mohammad Saifuddin, Mosaddek Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, Soumya Sarkar, Tamim Iqbal.
WEST INDIES VS BANGLADESH WORLD CUP HEAD TO HEAD
1999 - Cadiff Wales - West Indies won by 7 wkts.
2003 - Benoni - No Result.
2007 - Kensington - West Indies won by 99 runs.
2011 - Dhaka - West Indies won by 9 wkts.