After almost a year of stagnation in international cricket due to pandemic, Bangladesh returned to the international cricketing arena on a high note as they whitewashed West Indies in the three-match ODI series.
Bangladesh not only won the series but dominated the Windies side in every department of the game. Throughout the series Windies could not even stage a fight in front of Tigers ruthless display. Team Bangladesh certainly took their cricketing standards to new height. Even though the outcome of this series was a likely one as Windies had 10 of their first-team players elect out due to Covid concerns, still there are lot of positives to take for Bangladesh from this series.
Skipper Tamim Iqbal kicked off his captaincy stint in grand fashion. Not only that, he led the team from the front and performed brilliantly with the bat as well.
Tamim also safeguarded a smooth start to his team’s journey by claiming all 30 points on offer in the ICC ODI Super League, which is the phase to the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup.
His aggressive captaincy throughout the series heaped a lot of praise. Captaincy did not seem to put any kind of pressure to him as the 31-year-old finished as the top scorer of the series with 158 runs in three innings with two fifties.
Premier all-rounder and one of the best cricketers of Bangladesh Shakib Al Hasan’s return to the team colours in scintillating form was another propitious facet. Shakib returned with a bang as he showcased his talent with both the bat and the bowl throughout the series. For his all-round display, Shakib bagged the ‘Man of the Series’ award as well.
The series also brought a future pace prospect of Bangladesh into limelight. Right arm pacer Hasan Mahmud’s fiery and lethal pace bowling rattled the Windies batters during the series. He made a flying debut by scalping three wickets in the first ODI in Mirpur. The youngster certainly lived up to the hype of being the next big thing for Bangladesh in the pace department.
