Tigers start limbering up

The Bangladesh team held a training session the very day that they reached Antigua in the Caribbean at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium yesterday.

After a short stopover in New York, the Tigers landed on the island nation on Monday and took up residence at the Jolly Beach Resort.

Skipper Shakib Al Hasan joined the team in New York while fellow all-rounder Mehedi Hasan Miraz finally obtained the required visa and flew off to Antigua on Sunday.

The visitors will participate in a two-day warm-up match, starting tomorrow, before taking on West Indies in the first of a two-match Test series from July 4 at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

The second and final Test match, which begins on July 12 at the Sabina Park in Jamaica, will be followed by a three-match ODI series before a three-match T20I series.

This may be the maiden international assignment for Steve Rhodes as the Tigers' new head coach but for Bangladesh, this is their fourth bilateral tour of the West Indies. Bangladesh won twice in a total of those eight Test matches, the Tigers won a series back in 2009 under Shakib's stewardship after the regular captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza was injured.

The Tigers have also lost seven of 10 ODIs and have never won a T20I in the Caribbean.

This will also be Shakib's comeback tour to the longest format of the game as well as his first assignment since being reappointed as Test captain. Shakib missed the two-match Test series at home against Sri Lanka earlier this year due to an injury while he did not take part in the preceding assignment against South Africa as he was granted a short break from the format in September last year.