Tigers keen to roar back in 1st ODI against Lanka
BSS, Dhaka :
Leaving the disappointment of the Test series behind, Bangladesh want to start afresh when they take on Sri Lanka in the three-match ODI series opening game at R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo today. The match starts at 3:00pm (Bangladesh Standard Time). Private satellite sports channel T Sports and private satellite channel Nagorik TV will telecast the match live.
Mehidy Hasan Miraz will start his journey as permanent captain with this match. Just before the Sri Lanka series, he replaced Najmul Hossain Shanto as the ODI captain for one year. Charith Asalanka will lead Sri Lanka team as the captain of his side.
Bangladesh lost the preceding two-match Test series 1-0, following an innings and 78 runs defeat in the final Test.
They began the tour on a strong note, having drawn the first Test after dominating a large portion of the game. But their batting vulnerability was exposed in the second Test, leading them to an ignominious defeat that is believed to have a bad impact on the ODI series.
Skipper Mehidy Hasan Miraz, however, remained upbeat about their chance, saying that the ODI series will be a different ball game.
Bangladesh won just 12 and lost 43 against Sri Lanka in 57 meetings (two matches were washed out). However, the last five encounters between the two sides saw Bangladesh win three and lose two.
The two sides last met in an ODI series in March 2024 after which Bangladesh played two series against Afghanistan and West Indies and took part in Champions Trophy, which was their last ODI assignment.
Bangladesh lost to Afghanistan by 2-1 and suffered a whitewash at the hands of West Indies in a three-match series. Mehidy Hasan Miraz led the side in West Indies series in absence of Shanto. Also Bangladesh fared badly in Champions Trophy in which they lost two matches, they played against India and New Zealand.
Bangladesh’s ODI record on Sri Lankan soil is also dismal one. They last played a three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka in 2019, which the hosts swept with ease. Bangladesh played two more ODIs against Sri Lanka in Asia Cup, held in 2023 and lost those two matches also.
Bangladesh hadn’t won any of the last six matches on Sri Lankan soil.
Bangladesh, however, would have vastly different side than they have in Champions Trophy. Taskin Ahmed returned to the fold after recovering from the injury which will bolster the pace attack, while Naim Shiekh who was a consistent performer in domestic circuit was recalled in ODI squad after two and half years.
Wicket-keeper batter Liton Das, middle-order batter Shamim Patwari and left-arm spinner Tanvir Islam returned to the fold after failing to get a place in the Champions Trophy squad.