The West Indies have arrived in Dhaka for the Bangladesh vs West Indies Test series. Their final two matches of the current World Test Championship cycle will be played over the next two weeks, according to the West Indies board.
The visitors come unbeaten in Test series this year. They beat Sri Lanka and drew 1-1 with Pakistan in Trinidad, and a series win in Bangladesh would make 2026 the first calendar year since 1994 in which the West Indies have not lost a Test series, Windies Cricket reported.
A win would also give the side three unbeaten series in a row for the first time since the 2012–13 period, according to the board. It describes the team as seeking to re-establish itself among Test cricket's competitive forces.
What Roston Chase's side can gain in the ICC Test rankings and World Test Championship standings
A 2-0 series win would lift the West Indies to sixth in the ICC Test rankings, according to the West Indies board. The board said the side could also finish sixth in the World Test Championship, depending on other results for the remainder of the cycle. It did not say which results those were.
The campaign is the West Indies' third in the World Test Championship. It began against Australia in Bridgetown, Barbados, "just under 500 days ago", the board said. With two matches remaining, the Bangladesh tour is the last stop of the cycle.
Daren Sammy is head coach and Roston Chase is captain. The board said both spoke positively about the changes within the team, but its report did not include their comments.
How much has the West Indies batting improved?
The clearest change this cycle has come with the bat, according to the board's figures. The West Indies have scored nine Test centuries in the current cycle, compared with two between 2023 and 2025.
Five of those nine hundreds came in response to opposition totals. The board presented that as evidence the side can now fight back after being put under pressure.
Other measures cited by Windies Cricket show the same trend:
- First-innings average: 30 runs per wicket, up from 23.5 in the previous cycle
- Century opening stands: two, compared with none in the previous campaign
- Opening partnership average: 32.8, up from 19.8
- Overall batting percentage: 25.8, up from 21 percent
The board described the batting gain as a "four-percentage-point increase across both innings." It did not define the batting percentage measure, and the move from 21 to 25.8 percent is not exactly four points.
Who are the West Indies' top run-scorers this cycle?
Justin Greaves and Shai Hope have been the most dependable batters over the two-year cycle, according to the board. Greaves has scored 792 runs at an average of 40.78. That total includes two match-saving hundreds, one of them a double century in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Hope has made 775 runs at 37.71, with three centuries and two half-centuries, Windies Cricket reported.
Openers John Campbell and Brandon King have together scored 1,044 runs across the cycle. The board linked their output to the rise in substantial opening stands.
The runs have also come from lower down the order. Chase and Amir Jangoo each scored a match-winning century against Sri Lanka in Antigua. The board said this showed the side no longer relies only on a handful of established players.
Who takes the wickets for the West Indies?
Fast bowlers Jayden Seales and Shamar Joseph have led the attack with 70 wickets between them this cycle, according to the board.
Joseph has taken 35 wickets at an average of 22.11, the best average among the leading bowlers named by Windies Cricket. Seales has taken his wickets at an average of 33.51.
Greaves has added 25 wickets to his runs, making him the side's leading all-rounder on these figures. Veteran seamer Kemar Roach has taken 20.
Greaves is the only player named among both the leading run-scorers and the leading wicket-takers in the board's review of the cycle.
The board's account covers only the touring side. It does not give Bangladesh's squad, form, captain or World Test Championship position, and it does not list the West Indies squad for the tour.
The venues and start dates for the two matches were also not included in the West Indies board's report. It said only that the cycle's commitments would be completed in Bangladesh "over the next two weeks."