There is much to learn from both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, two South Asian countries, as they navigate their shifting landscapes.
The Sri Lanka team pulled out a ‘timed out’ celebration following their 28-run series-winning victory against Bangladesh in the third and final T20I at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Saturday. The visitors celebrated by pointing their fingers on their wrists referring to Angelo Matthews’ timed out dismissal against Bangladesh in the 2023 World Cup in India. Bangladesh-Sri Lanka encounters have brought out feisty contests in the recent past and tensions spilled over on Saturday as well when Towhid Hridoy got into an altercation with the Sri Lanka team after his dismissal.
Dhaka and Colombo sign one agreement and 13 memorandums of understanding (MoU) to boost up cooperation between the two countries in the areas of economy, agriculture, shipping, higher education, information and technology and media.
Bangladesh ODI skipper Mashrafe Mortaza expresses that he would have been more satisfied had his team won the one-day series 2-0 against Sri Lanka after the Tigers arrived home from a month-long series today.
As successful as this tour of Sri Lanka by the Bangladesh cricket team has been, it has also been one marred by off-field controversies and more than a little cloak-and-dagger.
With the gloom surrounding Mashrafe Bin Mortaza's retirement from T20Is hanging over today's second T20I against Sri Lanka, the man took it upon himself to ensure that it does not overshadow the match and that it inspires the team to come up with a rare T20I win to leave Sri Lanka with squared series in all formats of the game.
Three stats dominate the discussion before Bangladesh and Sri Lanka lock horns in the first of two T20Is at the R Premadasa International Stadium in Colombo tonight at 7:30pm (Bangladesh time).
Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews will miss the remaining fixtures of Bangladesh's tour after being ruled out of the Twenty20 matches starting in Colombo on Tuesday.
Speaking with the shady benefit of hindsight may not be the most honest thing to do, but it will be even more disingenuous to deny that the status of Bangladesh's ODI progress hinged to a large extent on the result of the third ODI against Sri Lanka in Colombo, which they lost by 70 runs on Saturday.
Sri Lanka opener Dimuth Karunaratne had averaged 11.6 in his last 10 Test innings since his last century at home, and it was on 11 that he was dropped on the third evening by Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim off a difficult deflection down the leg side.
When he showed brilliant anticipation to take two steps to his right as Sri Lanka’s keeper-batsman Niroshan Dickwella got down on one knee to sweep Shakib Al Hasan in the 60th over and then pouched the deflection off the bat to send his opposite number on his way, Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim became the 41st wicketkeeper in Test history and the first Bangladesh wicketkeeper to reach 100 Test dismissals.
Former Bangladesh Under-19 pacer Mohammad Saifuddin and fast bowler Abul Hasan will fly out to Colombo tomorrow to take part in the one-day warm-up game on March 22 ahead of the limited-overs leg of Bangladesh’s tour of Sri Lanka, which starts with the first ODI on March 25 in Dambulla.
Bangladesh ODI and T20I captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza along with three members of ODI squad for the Sri Lanka series left for Colombo from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Dhaka today.
Sri Lanka reached 268 for 8 in 100 overs and led Bangladesh by 139 runs in their second innings when the umpires called stumps on day-4 of the second Test of the series at Colombo’s P Sara Oval today.
Shakib Al Hasan may have grabbed all the headlines yesterday, but there was a debutant without whom Bangladesh would probably not have been able to accumulate the 129-run lead that placed the visitors ahead in the match.
Call it resiliency or a perverse desire to prove naysayers wrong, but Bangladesh have made it a habit of turning in a stellar performance when their fans or critics least expect it.
Mashrafe Bin Mortaza hogged the spotlight on the opening day of the two-day players' transfer for the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur yesterday.
Shakib Al Hasan batted beautifully yesterday, but there was one remnant of his madnesss on the previous day -- the compulsive hook.
Bangladesh were all out for 467 in their first innings during the last session of day-3 and led Sri Lanka by 129 runs during the second Test of the series at Colombo’s P Sara Oval today.
