Steve Rhodes, the Bangladesh coach, acknowledged the Zimbabwe series has helped them prepare well for the upcoming home series against Windies. The hosts were humbled in the first Test but came back to level the series with a win in Dhaka.

"I think in Sylhet and Mirpur, Zimbabwe made us fight all the way. Some people might be a little bit surprised at the 1-1 result and the hard-fought series. I think it will do us a lot of good going into a contest against Windies who are obviously tough opposition. We needed to go there with some tough games under our belt. Zimbabwe proved to be a tough opposition," he said.

"I was very pleased with the Mirpur result but as you said, we wanted more than 1-1. Once we lost that first one, we had to make sure we drew the series."

The last time these two sides met, Windies managed to win the first two Tests with handsome margins before Bangladesh bounced back to end the series 2-1. Rhodes felt the absence of Jason Holder hurts Windies just a touch. "To be perfectly honest, we don't have many concerns. We are looking forward to the series against Windies," he stressed.

"They are excellent opposition, as we saw in July. Conditions are a little bit different in Bangladesh, so hopefully, we will have good games against them. They have got some injury problems with Jason Holder going home. We are without Tamim Iqbal; we wish him all the best to get back as quick as he could. It will be a good contest."

Bangladesh will also be buoyed by the return of Shakib Al Hasan from injury. However, they will be forced to change their opening combination with Tamim Iqbal out injured and Liton Das dropped from the side. "It is great to have him back. Shakib is a master tactician. Riyad did a good job as captain in the Mirpur Test, but somebody of Shakib's stature, cleverness and tactical awareness is a really important cog to a successful Bangladesh team. We welcome him back with open arms. His finger seems fine at the moment. He had a long 45-minute bat in the nets today. So things are looking good," Rhodes said.

"You've seen Imrul part of the squad here. It could be very well Imrul, but there are other spots as well. Let's just wait and see. Our top order hasn't fired as we'd have liked. It happens sometimes. You can't keep scoring runs all the time.

"Imrul is a great example. He had great form in the ODIs and at the moment, he hasn't converted it into the red-ball Test matches. We are hopeful of all our batters, and we will probably let you know at 9.30 when we toss the coin."