Dhaka, Bangladesh – Denesh Ramdin will make a return to the West Indies team on Friday when he takes the spot behind the stumps as the Windies start their month-long tour with a limited-overs match against the Bangladesh Cricket Board XI.
The game will be played at the Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Futallah. First ball is 9.30 am (11.30 pm Thursday Eastern Caribbean Time/10.30 pm Jamaica Time).
The 26-year-old keeper was out of the side for over a year but fought his way back into the squad and is here for both the limited-overs and Test sections of the tour. He is eagerly looking forward to wearing the Windies colours again.
The slim, agile Ramdin was very active during Thursday’s full training at the BCB Academy in Mirpur. He spoke after the session and said Friday’s match will give the team a chance to "get going" as they prepare to face the hosts in the one-off T20 International and three One-Day Internationals next week.
"We have a short time to prepare before the T20 International next week so we are trying to get used to the conditions. The match tomorrow [Friday] will be a good warm-up for all of us as we try to get ready to face Bangladesh on their home turf. Everyone knows this is not going to be an easy series. They [Bangladeshis] play well at home so we have to make sure our preparations are spot-on and make maximum use of whatever warm-up opportunities we get," Ramdin said.
"I was out of the team mainly because I wasn’t getting enough runs, so I went back and worked hard on my batting and also tried to maintain my keeping standards. I got some runs in the domestic four-day tournament and managed to get a recall. There were some areas which needed attention, so I assessed my game and made some changes. Hopefully I will see the benefit of those changes."
He was in fine form in the WICB Regional First-class competition earlier this year, scoring over 460 at over 40 per innings also had 24 catches and three stumpings.
Ramdin made his international debut as a 20-year-old back in 2005 in Sri Lanka. That came less than a year after he led the West Indies to second place in the 2004 ICC Under-19 World Cup which was staged in Bangladesh.
So in his international career he has played 42 Test matches and 81 ODIs and 22 T20 Internationals. He was recently with the Trinidad and Tobago team which competed in the Champions League in India.
"I’m really looking forward to the ODIs and the Test Series and I am focussed on taking all the chances I get. I just came over from representing Trinidad and Tobago in the Champions League in India so I would say I am somewhat used to the conditions and types of surfaces we will be playing on," the Windies Number 80 said.
"Conditions here have changed quite a bit since I was here as captain in the Under-19 World Cup, but we can still expect the pitches to favour the spinners. It would be good to get some pitches which would offer bounce and carry because we have some good fast bowlers in our team, but we will play hard, tough cricket on whatever surfaces are prepared for us."
Limited-over squad: Darren Sammy (Captain), Adrian Barath, Devendra Bishoo, Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Danza Hyatt, Anthony Martin, Kieron Pollard, Keiran Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons
Test squad: Darren Sammy (Captain), Adrian Barath, Carlton Baugh, Devendra Bishoo, Kraigg Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Fidel Edwards, Kirk Edwards, Keiran Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Marlon Samuels, Shane Shillingford
Full schedule
October 7: vs BCB XI at KSOAS
October 9: T20 vs BCB XI at KSOAS
October 11: Twenty20 International at SBNCS
October 13: 1st ODI at SBNCS
October 15: 2nd ODI at SBNCS
October 18: 3rd ODI at ZACS
October 21-25: 1st Test at ZACS
October 29-November 3: 2nd Test at SBNCS
Venues:
NCAG – National Cricket Academy Ground, Dhaka
KSOAS – Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium, Narayanganj
SBNCS – She-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium, Dhaka
ZACS – Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong