Warm up tunes Tigers

Before the West Indies tour even began, there were talks over the challenges that lie ahead for Bangladesh in the seaming friendly conditions of the Caribbean, where the Tigers have been made to suffer heavily in previous occasions.

Ahead of their departure for the island nation, the Tigers' dashing opener Tamim Iqbal seemed to understand the difficulties they could face against West Indies and accordingly, worked extra hard on his batting even during the Eid break, where the left-hander was busy practicing against short-pitched deliveries at the centre wicket of the Academy ground.

Tamim also kept Windies pacer Shanon Gabriel's fiery bowling display against Sri Lanka, in a Test series earlier this week, in mind and informed that he wants to prepare himself for all the hurdles he could face during the upcoming tour.

"It's quite obvious that when the team is doing well, the players are confident. But I feel that after watching their [West Indies] games [Tests against Sri Lanka] that however prepared I thought I was, it was not enough. So I thought I should prepare myself more and that is the reason I am doing extra work. It's important to prepare well to play well," Tamim told reporters on June 18.

The 29-year-old also added that the two-day warm up game against CWI President's XI, which ended in a draw yesterday, was crucial for them when it came to adjusting with the conditions ahead of the Test series which begins on July 4 in Antigua.

Bangladesh had a good outing yesterday, with Tamim and Mahmudullah Riyad striking hundreds while skipper Shakib Al Hasan did well with the bat as well, scoring 67 runs to help post 402 for 8, despite struggling at 22 for 3 earlier on.

Another major concern was the bowling department, due to the absence of injured pacer Mustafizur Rahman, but the likes of Rubel Hossain, Abu Jayed, Shafiul Islam and Kamrul Islam all picked up wickets in the warm up game and that will definitely serve as a morale boost to the side.

The real challenge will begin though when the Tigers face off against an upbeat home team, in a true test of character for the Bangladeshi cricketers in the Caribbean.