Tigers' chance to establish dominance
In terms of games to be played, Bangladesh's tour of Sri Lanka is exactly halfway through before today's second ODI at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium gets underway at 3:00pm (Bangladesh time). At this stage, Bangladesh could hardly have asked to be in a more advantageous position, having won their first Test against the hosts a little over a week ago, before taking the lead in a bilateral series against their opponents for the first time with a clinical 90-run win in the first ODI on Thursday.
Sri Lanka, meanwhile, are a team struggling to rectify their growing list of flaws and at the same time arrest the momentum of a team they have beaten 33 out of the 39 times they have played. The intensity of their headache increased yesterday when it was revealed that wicketkeeper and opening batsman Niroshan Dickwella, who missed the first game because he was serving out a suspension for dissent incurred in Australia, will miss today's game as well because of a hairline fracture on his thumb during practice on Sunday. As Sri Lanka are already missing regular captain Angelo Mathews, pace superstar Lasith Malinga and batsman Kusal Perera due to injuries, Dickwella's exclusion comes as another blow ahead of a must-win game.
Even so, they seemed to have changed tack after Bangladesh scored 324 in the first game on a slowish pitch. Sri Lanka have brought back swing merchant Nuwan Kulasekara and pacer Nuwan Pradeep into the squad while the groundsman seems to have left an extra coat of grass on the pitch.
Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza however did not seem too concerned about the green tinge. “It might be [a little greener], but still I think the wicket will be good for batting,” he said during the pre-match press briefing at the venue yesterday. “In the sub-continent you have to keep a lot of grass to make a wicket that suits the fast bowlers. Still, I feel that it is a good batting wicket.”
He was not, however, ruling out a change in the playing eleven, saying that a winning combination can be changed depending on the conditions on offer.
“We have broken our winning combination against India and South Africa in 2015,” said Mashrafe, recalling the series the side won in 2015 as part of their upsurge in the format. “The wicket tomorrow may be different, so we have to keep that in mind.”
Although the captain was not ruling out a change, it is hard to see where it may come. Even if the green tinge remains on the pitch today, Bangladesh had already played with three seamers in the previous match and both Mustafizur Rahman (3-56) and Taskin Ahmed (1-41) performed creditably.
It was learnt that all 13 players were asked to be prepared, but it is not as yet certain who those 13 may be. If the 13 from the first ODI is retained, it is hard to see Shuvagata Hom or Sunzamul Islam getting a game today. It was also learnt that the 13 will be confirmed this morning after a look at the pitch. If there is a change to the 13 then perhaps Subashis Roy or Rubel Hossain may come into the picture.
But currently, it is a problem of plenty for Bangladesh as they try to complete a full set of series wins over their sub-continental rivals, having beaten India and Pakistan at home in 2015. Defeating Sri Lanka in their own den, that too with one game in hand, will make it all the more special.
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