Tigers take on SL today

It will not require a magic trick or some drastic change in skills, but only a bit of common sense, understanding and greater mental strength to change Bangladesh's fate after the series of disappointments that have demoralised the Tigers and taken their confidence levels close to zero.

Yes, they will be up against an upbeat Sri Lanka side in their second T20I tri-nation Nidahas Trophy encounter at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo today after having lost their first to India by six wickets on Thursday.

Added to this is the fact that Bangladesh were beaten Sri Lanka in all the three formats in the first two months of the year and the hosts have also started the Nidahas Trophy opener on a high as they chased down a fighting target of 175 with nine balls to spare in the tournament opener against India.

Kusal Perera's aggressive approach in his 37-ball 66 and the calm finish by Thisara Perera are reason enough for Bangladesh to be very careful in chalking out their plans properly.

Sri Lanka coach Chandika Hathurusingha will once again come up with a specific strategy as the former Bangladesh coach did during their 2-0 T20I series win in Bangladesh when the Sri Lankan bowlers tested the Tigers batsman with the short ball.

This time however it might be a different plan as Hathurusingha has deep knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the Bangladesh team gleaned from his three-year stint the Tigers that ended in November last year.

But apart from the technical aspects, this game between the two rivals will also have a psychological component as Sri Lanka already have the advantage. 

From Bangladesh's point of view, as skipper Mahmudullah Riyad said after the game against India, the 55 dot balls played by the batsmen in that game and the desperation to go for big shots in almost every delivery without rotating the strike will have to be minimised.

The Tigers' think tank is likely to go with the same team combination that lost to India, which indicates the approach and mindset this time will be different.

Opener Tamim Iqbal needs to fire and provide some sort of stability alongside Soumya Sarkar to utilise the Powerplay -- another problematic aspect of the game against India as Bangladesh scored just 44 runs for the loss of both openers.

It will be important for the top order and the middle order to create a platform from where Bangladesh could also go for a late surge and for that the likes of Liton Das, who did manage to score the team-highest 34 against India, will have to come good.

Mushfiqur Rahim and skipper Mahmudullah Riyad were guilty of throwing their wickets away at pivotal junctures and need to be more judicious in strokeplay, while Sabbir Rahman has yet another chance to prove his worth as a big hitter late in the order.

Bangladesh's bowling was not tested that much mostly because of a low total posted by the batsmen against India, but it is left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman who will have to take the lead in the bowling department along with Rubel Hossain and Taskin Ahmed.