Bangladesh vs. Zimbabwe 1st Test: Date, Live Stream, TV Info and Preview

Bangladesh play host to Zimbabwe in the first match of a three-Test series on Saturday in what can only be described as the battle of the wooden spoon as far as the International Cricket Council’s world rankings are concerned.

And both countries will be going all out for victory in this opener having not won a single five-day game in the whole of 2014.

What: Bangladesh vs. Zimbabwe

Where: Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur

When: Saturday, October 25—Wednesday October 29, 3:30 a.m. GMT, 9:30 a.m. local time

Live Stream/TV info: Geo Super, Willow Cricket and Gazi TV    

Squads

Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim*†, Tamim Iqbal, Al-Amin Hossain, Jubair Hossain, Mahmudullah, Marshall Ayub, Mominul Haque, Rubel Hossain, Shafiul Islam, Shahadat Hossain, Shamsur Rahman, Shakib Al Hasan, Shuvagata Hom, Taijul Islam

Zimbabwe: BRM Taylor*, RW Chakabva†, B Chari, TL Chatara, E Chigumbura, CR Ervine, T Kamungozi, H Masakadza, SW Masakadza, WP Masakadza, N Mushangwe, R Mutumbami, J Nyumbu, T Panyangara, V Sibanda, Sikandar Raza, MN Waller

Form

Bangladesh

It’s been a fairly disastrous year so far for Bangladesh in all forms of the game after recording just the two wins in 25 matches, and even those victories only came in Twenty20 contests against lowly Afghanistan and Nepal.

And in the Test-match arena the Tigers recently lost 2-0 in the West Indies, while at the turn of the year they also went down 1-0 in a two-game home series to Sri Lanka, with those twin setbacks now leaving them at the bottom of the ICC’s world rankings.

Zimbabwe

The tourists have played just a solitary Test match in 2014, losing by nine wickets to the No.1 team in the world at present—South Africa—in Harare in August. However, they still find themselves ranked one place higher than their hosts in the ICC’s global rankings heading into this series.

Key men

Bangladesh: Shakib Al Hasan

The Tigers will be able to call upon the services of former captain Shakib Al Hasan in Mirpur after the end of the player’s three-month suspension handed down by the Bangladesh Cricket Board earlier this summer for "serious misbehaviour" with coach Chandika Hathurusingha.

And the return of the left-armer—who is also currently ranked the second-best all-rounder in Test cricket—may prove vital for the home side’s chances of victory given that the pitch at the Shere Bangla National Stadium is bound to take spin. His return will be even more welcome in light of the absence of first-choice spinner Abdur Razzak for this opening match.

Zimbabwe: Brendan Taylor

Captain Brendan Taylor is the tourists’ most experienced and best player, with the 28-year-old having made his Test-match debut way back in May 2004 against Sri Lanka in Harare.

And with a more-than-respectable average of 35.73 to his name, with four hundreds and seven half-centuries—including a brilliant knock of 93 in the first innings of the only Test that Zimbabwe have played so far this year against the Proteas in August—much responsibility will rest on the tall right-handed batsman’s shoulders in Dhaka.

Other information

Weather: We are expecting it to be hot for this opening encounter of the series in the Bangladesh capital over the course of the next five days, with temperatures ranging between 28 and 31 degrees Celsius.

Pitch: The last Test to be played on this ground was back in January, when Sri Lanka destroyed their hosts by an innings and 248 runs after racking up a mammoth 730-6 declared thanks to an unbeaten double-hundred from Mahela Jayawardene, with Bangladesh not even managing to get more than 250 in either innings.

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