Tigers still wary of Gayle-less Windies

When it comes to playing the shortest format of the game as opposed to ODIs, West Indies are a much stronger unit; therefore it will be a challenge for the Bangladesh team to carry the momentum from their 2-1 ODI series win to the three-match T20I series against the hosts, with the first match set to get underway today at 6:30am Bangladesh Standard Time in Saint Kitts.

Although West Indies will be without the services of hard hitting batsman Chris Gayle, a fact that the Tigers can take some solace from, the Caribbean team boasts a devastating group of T20 specialists in their ranks.

All-rounder Andre Russell, who suffered a hamstring injury in the first ODI and subsequently missed the remaining two matches of the series, returned for the T20 series and will surely provide a boost to the side.

The inclusion of skipper Carlos Brathwaite, Marlon Samuels and Andre Fletcher revamped the T20 team and makes them a stronger unit as each of them have the ability to singlehandedly turn a game around.

On the other hand, Bangladesh will surely miss their inspirational ODI captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza in the T20 series. However, his T20 counterpart Shakib Al Hasan will have to make use of his experience of playing T20s all over the world in order to lead the Tigers from the front.

Apart from a couple of new inclusions, most of the players from Bangladesh's ODI squad will feature in the T20 series and once again it falls on the seniors such as Tamim Iqbal, Shakib, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah Riyad to step up, just as they did in the ODI series.

However, finding an opening partner for Tamim remains as one of the Tigers' major concerns as Bangladesh are yet to find a settled pair at the top.

Liton Das has been inconsistent, scoring 138 runs in eight T20Is this year at an average of 17.25, despite boasting a strike rate of 131.42. Liton's highest score in the format, 43 runs, came against Sri Lanka during the Nidahas Trophy.

Left-hander Soumya Sarkar once again has an opportunity to showcase his talent in the T20 format but he will have to fight for his place with wicket-keeper batsman Liton.

It will be paramount for Bangladesh to play calculative cricket if they are to deal with West Indies' power cricket when the two sides lock horns in the first match of the series today.