Tigers’ quest to turn it around
Bangladesh's quest to brush aside all the negativities surrounding them will begin today as they take on Sri Lanka in the first of two Tests at the Pallekele International Stadium in Kandy. The game is scheduled to begin at 10.30am Bangladesh time.
Things have not gone well for Bangladesh in recent past as the Mominul Haque-led side travelled to Sri Lanka on the back of eight straight international defeats across formats. The form in the longer version is perhaps the worst as the Tigers won just one of their last nine matches.
The visitors will be under pressure after suffering a 2-0 whitewash against a relatively inexperienced West Indies side at home in their last series. However, according to Mominul, there is no pressure on him or his team.
The selectors had to wait until the day before the first Test to announce a 15-member squad, featuring four seamers and two specialist spinners.
In absence of star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan, the responsibility to guide the batting department will be on the shoulders of Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mominul as the batting department has been very vulnerable in recent times.
From a bowling perspective, skipper Mominul hinted that the visitors will bank on pavers for the first Test with three pacers -- Abu Jayed, Ebadot Hossain and Taskin Ahmed -- likely to feature alongside the two spinners -- Taijul Islam and Mehedi Hasan Miraz.
The pitch at the Pallekele stadium, though, has favoured spinners in the last two Tests played in 2017 and 2018, with the spinners of visiting India and England team dominating the hosts to seal victories.
Sri Lanka, too, will be desperate to return to winning ways since losing to England 2-0 at home after suffering an away series defeat against South Africa. However, skipper Dimuth Karunaratne and his troop gained some confidence as they managed to draw the two Tests in West Indies in their last series.
Bangladesh's Test record against Sri Lanka has remained disappointing with only one win and sixteen defeats in twenty encounters and the Tigers will want to improve on those stats this time around.
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