Both Bangladesh and the West Indies will be keen to improve their positions in the International Cricket Council’s Test rankings, when they face each other in the two-match Test series starting at St Vincent, Kingstown on Friday. The second and final Test will be held St Lucia’s Gros Islet from September 13-17. Earlier, the Tigers lost their one-day international series 3-0 while the one-off Twenty20 international was game washed out by rain.
Bangladesh are currently lying at the bottom of the ICC’s Test rankings table in 10th position while their opponent West Indies are ranked slightly ahead of them, in eighth. So, both have a chance of closing the points gap in the table.
West Indies, the former power house of international cricket, have 74 ratings points and remain 53 ratings points ahead of Bangladesh, who could only manage 21 points (as of September 3, before the start of West Indies-Bangladesh series), said an ICC press release on Wednesday.
‘And because the rankings are weighted to reflect this difference, the West Indies will drop points if it doesn’t win the series convincingly,’ it said.
Bangladesh have so far failed to put up any convincing display in the tour but could still earn some pride if they manage to change their fortune in the Test series.
A 1-0 series win will earn Bangladesh 13 ratings points and will cost the West Indies 8 ratings points, while a 2-0 series win will help Mushfiqur Rahim’s side gain 15 ratings points with West Indies losing 10 ratings points.
In the event of a drawn series, Bangladesh will benefit by gaining seven rating points, while the West Indies will drop four ratings points.
In contrast, the West Indies can earn a maximum of one rating point if they win both the Tests. In this scenario, Bangladesh will drop two ratings points.
The series will also provide the players with an opportunity to raise their individual ICC Test rankings, with veteran West Indies batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul, currently placed sixth, going into the series as the highest-ranked batsman from either side.
Other batsmen to feature inside the top 50 and likely to appear during the series are Darren Bravo (22nd), Chris Gayle (29th), Mominul Haque (33rd), Tamim Iqbal (42nd), Nasir Hossain (46th) and Denesh Ramdin (49th).
In the Reliance ICC Player Rankings for Test Bowlers, Kemar Roach’s in 11th position is the highest-ranked among the bowlers from either side.
Shane Shillingford (21st), Sulieman Benn (30th), Narsingh Deonarine (47th), Jerome Taylor (49th), Mahmudullah (61st), Robiul Islam (62nd) and Shannon Gabriel (66th) are some of the other bowlers who may feature in the series.
-With New Age input
