By Rajiv Bisnauth

IT MIGHT sound a bit harsh on the West Indies, but the three-match One-Day International (ODI) series against hosts Bangladesh was never a contest.
The largely inexperienced visitors couldn’t threaten at any point and suffered another embarrassing series whitewash. Such was the level of their competence that it looked like a mere formality right from the start.
Not having experience is one thing, but that shouldn’t stop the batsmen from showing intent. Not once did West Indies go past 200, not one visiting batsman went past 50, and all this should sum up the three games quite well. One-way traffic all the way!
Application and commitment from the tourists were missing. Their batsmen struggled to form any worthy partnerships and were completely undone by a clinical Bangladesh bowling display throughout the series.

They were not allowed to even play their full quota of 50 overs in the first two matches and were bowled out for 121 and 148 before yesterday’s 120-run defeat that summed up Bangladesh’s dominance in the series.
However, at the post-match press conference, stand-in ODI captain Jason Mohammed said the inexperience within the squad cost them the series.
“We were a bit far away in all the three games. The bowling did okay, today maybe 30 runs too many. The batting didn’t work at all. Playing the spinners were really challenging for us, especially in the first two games,” Mohammed reckoned.

The Trinidadian added, “It is something that can be rectified with our full-strength batting line-up. Once everyone is back, we’re going to do better at putting runs on the board. Some positives: Alzarri Joseph did well, might not have got the wickets but did well at the top and at the death. Akeal Hosein in his debut tour went well.”
West Indies played a second-string side as a number of their players chose to not travel to Bangladesh due to COVID-19 concerns whereas a few gave the tour a miss due to personal reasons.
With three consecutive wins over the guests, Bangladesh have gained full 30 Super League points.

The Super League is a brand new ODI competition, which takes place across two years and aims to raise the stakes of bilateral 50-over games.
In its first edition, the Super League will help decide which teams feature in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 in India, or teams have to take the tortuous qualifiers’ route.
Thirteen teams are taking part in this competition. These are the 12 Full Member nations, along with the Netherlands.
The Netherlands earned their place as the 13th team by winning the ICC World Cricket League Championship back in 2017.
Meanwhile, West Indies will now turn their attention to the two-match Test series which will only get tougher for them. The first starts on February 3.