Sri Lanka geared to take on Bangladesh in First Test
Sri Lanka cricket team led by Dimuth Karunaratne are geared to take on Bangladesh in the first test which will commence on May 15 in Chittagong.
The team had only one two day practice game which was washed out last Wednesday. Only 18.2 overs were possible in the practice game in which Sri Lanka scored 50 for 1 wicket with Opener Oshada Fernando and Kusal Mendis were unbeaten on 20′ s adding 44 runs an unbroken second wicket stand .
According to the Bangladesh news Sri Lankan team management is satisfied with Oshada Fernando’ s performance in their rain hit practice game .
Oshada Fernando is expected to open with Dimuth Karunaratne as Pathum Nissanka is out from this tour due to injury. Oshada will open with Dimuth while number three as usual Kusal Mendis followed by Angelo Matthews and Dhanajaya de Silva. The team management has not finalised the final eleven for the first test .
Sri Lankan team was scheduled to leave from Dhaka to Chiattagong yesterday evening around 2pm and after 1 and half hours flight they will reach Chiattagong
The first training session will be today (13) at Chiattagong Stadium with only two training sessions today and tomorrow (13,14) before the first Test. The team management will finalize the team after second training session on May 14 after observing the Chiattagong wicket .
Meanwhile the Sri Lankan Assistant coach Naveed Nawaz believes that it will be very good if they can take some positives back home by performing well in the upcoming two-Test series. Both Nawaz and head coach Chris Silverwood are expected to get good results in their first assignment against Bangladesh, Nawaz said, at the media briefing on Wednesday “So far I don’t think it (the situation in Sri Lanka) has affected us. Most of the cricketers are continuing to do their hard work. Their training has been ongoing for a couple of months. I didn’t see an instance which affected the players. A positive result in Bangladesh would certainly be welcome news for fans back home.”
Nawaz further said that he expected a tough contest primarily between the two batting units as both teams were inexperienced in their bowling. “Our bowling is inexperienced but the batting is far superior. They are pretty similar too. Bangladesh has a bit of youth in their bowling lineup. The two teams are evenly poised; it will be a good series to watch.”
The Sri Lankan players are familiar with Bangladesh conditions and among the current Test squad members, Dhananjaya de Silva and Kusal Mendis played in the Dhaka Premier League that ended in April and off-spinner Ramesh Mendis was also playing in the Bangladesh leagues when he was selected for the tour. This is an advantage for Dhananjaya, Kusal and Ramesh.
“We will always rely on past experiences as a visitor to this country. We have a couple of players who are used to Bangladesh conditions, who had played in the Dhaka Premier League, BPL and various types of cricket here. There are some who played the last Test series here as well,” said Nawaz.
“We are very optimistic and open-minded about whatever that comes through. We will try to adapt as much as possible to conditions and pitches in Chittagong. It has always produced a lot of runs, so we expect something similar.” added Nawaz .
Sri Lankan team skipper Dimuth Karunaratne who came from England after playing three county matches for Yorkshire is very confident to come back to his usual form as an opener. He will open the batting with his new partner Oshada Fernando .
Meanwhile Bangladesh experienced all rounder Sakib Al Hasan already is down with Covid 19 and most unlikely to play first Test in Chiattagong and his loss is a huge blow for Bangladesh team.