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  • 1 year ago
Cricket analyst Fazeer Mohammed is giving the West Indies the edge against Bangladesh ahead of the two-match Test series starting Friday at North Sound.

At the same time, Mohammed is worried about the Windies batting and says the Caribbean cricketers cannot afford to take the Asians for granted.

TV6 met with Mohammed on Wednesday to pick his brains on what he expects to be a riveting contest between the two sides.
Transcript
00:00The West Indies play two test matches against Bangladesh, with the opening game starting
00:04Friday in Antigua.
00:06Even though the Tigers lost 2-0 to both India and South Africa recently, they beat Pakistan
00:10in their own backyard by the same margin earlier.
00:14According to cricket analyst Fazir Mohammed, the West Indies have the edge, but Bangladesh
00:18cannot be taken lightly.
00:20He says the home side's batting is brittle, but Bangladesh's is even worse, which should
00:25be good news for the Windies pacers.
00:27So given all of those factors, I think the bowlers for the West Indies have a very good
00:32chance of dominating this series once they really fire up.
00:36And I'm talking about the fast bowlers here, specifically test matches in Antigua and Jamaica.
00:41If there's a bit of juice on the track, as we saw two years ago, Bangladesh could again
00:45be found wanting.
00:46They've got Mobinul Haq, who averages 37.
00:50They've got Litton Das, who averages almost 35.
00:52But apart from those two, there's very little else in their batting.
00:56So the Bangladeshis may see as well, in the bowling department, they've got quality bowling
01:01that challenges the West Indies as well.
01:03So it could be an interesting series.
01:05It could be one-all, depending on how things go with the weather.
01:08But I would like to see the West Indies really fire up with the fast bowlers and take the
01:13series 2-0.
01:14The Caribbean side will be without all-rounder Jason Holder, who has to focus on his shoulder
01:18treatment.
01:20So the question is, will the West Indies miss his services?
01:23It would usually be a loss to lose someone like a Jason Holder in the West Indies team.
01:27But not wanting to sound disrespectful of Bangladesh.
01:31But the reality is that if the West Indies play to their potential and take advantage
01:36of what would hopefully be helpful conditions for them, it really shouldn't matter.
01:41The absence, because you've got the likes of Al-Zahri Joseph, you've got Jaden Seals,
01:45you've got the senior man Kimar Roach.
01:47Someone with the experience of a Jason Holder, with bat and bowl, is always a loss.
01:51But given the quality and the potential nature of the opposition, it may not be that serious.
01:57The West Indies batting was a major concern when they lost to hosts England and then the
02:02Proteas in the Caribbean.
02:04That's an area that Mohammed says the men in Maroon must rectify if they want to succeed
02:09against a team from the Asian continent.
02:11They need to be concerned about the batting.
02:13It's as simple as that.
02:15Because again, Bangladesh have Anirudh Navid Rana, who is a decent fast bowler.
02:20He's a genuine quick bowler.
02:22Phil Simmonds, of course, a West Indies coach not so long ago.
02:25He comes here with that experience and that know-how and that understanding, leading the
02:29Bangladesh team as their coach.
02:31So clearly, they will be aware of the shortcomings in the West Indies batting line-up.
02:36The frailties.
02:37Yes, you might see a good innings, but then everything else falls apart.
02:40That tends to happen very quickly in West Indies cricket.
02:43When the West Indies toured Bangladesh during the pandemic, they won 2-0, followed by another
02:482-0 win in the Caribbean.
02:50So does it give the West Indies a psychological advantage going into the test matches against
02:54Bangladesh?
02:55West Indies should have that psychological edge because of those victories, a rare series
02:59victory in Bangladesh in 2021 with that depleted team during the time of COVID and again, just
03:05two years ago, as I mentioned.
03:07But Bangladesh are really an inconsistent lot right now.
03:10And I think a lot of that has to do with the turmoil in their politics, the overturning
03:15of the government of Sheikh Hasina.
03:17Following the test series, Mohammed expects Bangladesh to be more competitive in the ODI
03:22and T20 series that follows against the West Indies.
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