Bangladesh host West Indies in their home Test series, and the first match starts on 28 October 2026 at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Dhaka. Bangladesh arrive after a difficult stretch: they lost both of their group matches in the tri-series in the UAE, against Zimbabwe and Afghanistan, and then failed to win the one-off Test against Afghanistan in Abu Dhabi, which ended in a draw. Their batting coach Mohammad Ashraful has also been sacked before the series, according to ESPNcricinfo.

Form and context

West Indies have not lost a Test series in 2026, and they come in as the more settled side. Their red-ball squad spent time at a preparation camp in Chennai before travelling, and their batting consultant Floyd Reifer called the camp a 10 out of 10. Bangladesh have won only one Test series against West Indies, in 2018.

The last five completed matches read D, L, W, L, W for Bangladesh (most recent first) and L, W, D, W, L for West Indies, according to the ESPNcricinfo preview.

Probable XIs

Bangladesh: Shadman Islam, Tanzid Hasan, Mominul Haque, Najmul Hossain Shanto (captain), Mushfiqur Rahim, Litton Das (wicketkeeper), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed or Shoriful Islam, Ebadot Hossain. Litton’s fitness is the main question: he missed the tri-series with a hip injury.

West Indies: Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Brandon King, Kavem Hodge, Amir Jangoo, Roston Chase (captain), Justin Greaves, Joshua Da Silva (wicketkeeper), Kemar Roach, Shamar Joseph, Jomel Warrican (vice-captain), Jayden Seales. Shamar Springer or uncapped left-arm spinner Joshua Bishop could also come in.

Players to watch

Mushfiqur Rahim became the first Bangladesh player to reach 100 Tests, and he has averaged 44.7 in his last six matches. He is 118 runs short of 1,000 Test runs against West Indies. His long duel with Kemar Roach is one of the features of the series: Roach has dismissed him three times, and Roach has taken 10 wickets at an average of 22.4 this year. Shadman Islam has never been dismissed by Roach, having faced 80 balls from him in four Test innings.

Pitch and weather

West Indies coach Daren Sammy said the Mirpur pitch was not like the ones the two teams played in the ODI series last year, and the venue has rolled out better surfaces since then. Rain is forecast for the first three days, so the toss and the early conditions may matter more than usual.

Sources

Information in this preview comes from the ESPNcricinfo match preview by Mohammad Isam, published on 27 October 2026.