A stern New Year test for Tigers

The country has been going through a cold wave but it is expected that there will be no short of fireworks out in the middle at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur when the tri-nation one-day tournament kicks off today with a match between hosts Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
The run riots in the recently concluded India-Sri Lanka series gave the clear indication that a similar batting extravaganza awaits on a similar surface at Mirpur from the two in-form sides. The Tigers will also play the tournament on the back of a remarkable year where they won 14 ODIs out of 19 but the opponents were not as tough as they are going to face in the tournament in their first assignment of the New Year.
So, the obvious question is whether Shakib Al Hasan's men can keep the momentum against the two mighty opponents?
Spinners were the key behind the success against the teams like West Indies and Zimbabwe but it will not be the same case when they face the Sri Lankan batsmen in today's match because the Lankans have the ability to handle the slow bowlers much better than the two opponents especially with a batsman like Tillakaratne Dilshan, who is in prime form.
Shakib will also rely on an inexperienced pace attack in the absence of injured Mashrafe Bin Mortaza and Nazmul Hossain as Rubel Hossain will operate the new ball along with debutant Shafiul Islam. Left-arm seamer Syed Rasel and Shahadat Hossain were left out from the team along with two ICL-returnees Shahriar Nafees and Aftab Ahmed.
But despite all the deficiency, Bangladesh captain Shakib believes that his team have got the ability to beat any team while coach Jamie Siddons said it's a good opportunity for them to do something against this Sri Lankan side, which missed some key players for the tournament.
"We can beat any team but in that case we have to play our best cricket. We are really excited to play the tournament," said Shakib, the world's number one all-rounder in ODI rakings who along with Shahriar Nafees also made the preliminary IPL auction list.
The Bangladesh team will definitely rely on the slow bowlers but the young Tigers skipper was also optimistic about his two new ball bowlers including Shafiul, the 20-year Bogra lad who was the highest wicket-taker in the recently concluded Premier League with 30 scalps. Like many, Shakib also praised the newcomer who can move the ball both ways and has stock balls in his arsenal.
"We tried many combinations but we are yet to get the right one. True, Shafiul (Islam) is inexperienced but he has got the quality to perform well and we have all faith on this young bowler. On the other hand we are yet to get the best from Rubel (Hossain)," said a confident Shakib.
The selectors have tried so many pace bowlers in the last one and a half year and none is yet to cement their place, so it would be interesting to see how Shafiul takes the challenge.
Sri Lanka has also a lack of bite in their bowling attack but can Bangladesh grab the opportunity?
"We had 12 months against Zimbabwe and a 'West Indies A' team, but last month's Premier League was a great competition and the players have played very good cricket. And the training over the last few weeks was fantastic," said Siddons.
"As I said it wasn't ideal preparation for this tournament but you can't always play the best team I guess. Others teams were busy. We had Zimbabwe to beat, West Indies to beat and we did it really well. I think the way we played was pleasing. The wins are wins, I mean I love winning. But the way the boys have played, the way they have handled people like Kemar Roach in the West Indies bowling at 150km…no problem and people like (Raymond) Price of Zimbabwe who is one of the top 10 bowlers in the world," he added.
In response of a question on meeting Sri Lanka again at the beginning of the New Year after playing them in January 2009 in India he said, "I think the wicket had a bit of seam then. We should have won that final had Murali not played some pretty good cricket at the end. We have got no fears with Sri Lanka but we will have to play really good cricket to compete against both the sides," he said.
"It's a fantastic opportunity to see where we are and to see how much we have improved and to see how matured the boys have become.
"I am excited to put them up against India. We need to see where we are, whether we are improving, whether we are on track before the World Cup. This series is a fantastic opportunity for us to step up. I am looking forward to India, obviously they are a superstar team and we are not. But that's the challenge," the Australian continued.
There was a common sentiment regarding one issue which was the role dew will play in the day-night affairs which will start from 2.30pm as it would not be easy to operate the ball in the second session under floodlight.
"The outfield got quite wet toward the end of the night. I guess we would rather be batting than bowling at that time. I think the wicket is going to be good to bat on all the way through. The problem might be bowling in the dew. So toss may be important," said Bangladesh coach.
So, before everything, the captains want to toss the coin rightly to take the first advantage.