Sri Lanka will host the first bilateral ODI series after the completion of a successful ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, as they take on Bangladesh in a three-match ODI series, starting from Friday (26th July) in Colombo.
>>Sri Lanka v Bangladesh 2019<<
Sri Lanka, despite finishing two places above Bangladesh in the final points table in England, are below Bangladesh in terms of ICC ODI rankings. They have not lost an ODI series against the Bangladesh at home.
However, the visitors will have a slight edge in turning tables heading into this short series due to their excellent brand of cricket that they have been playing in recent times.
Sri Lanka for a start will be hoping for some continuity with Dimuth Karunaratne at the helm. He will now be looked at as a stable leader in Tests and ODIs. He led the team valiantly in England and did reasonably well at the top order, combining well with Kusal Perera.
Sri Lanka have made a couple of changes to their squad to face Bangladesh, bringing back several players such as Niroshan Dickwella, Shehan Jayasuriya, Lahiru Kumara, Akila Dananjaya and Danushka Gunathilaka, who all missed out on Sri Lanka’s World Cup campaign. The hosts’, who initially named a 22-member squad for the three ODIs will prune it down to 15 players before the first match.
Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh ODI Series 2019 – Let’s talk Numbers
“We can’t do plenty of changes right after a World Cup. There’s still four years for the next World Cup. We need to see how we can groom a couple of youngsters and mix them with the existing senior players in the squad. “Sri Lanka Captain Dimuth Karunaratne said at the pre-series media briefing on Monday evening.
“Our biggest concern has been the lack of wicket-taking bowlers in limited-overs cricket. After Lasith [Malinga] retires, we must find a couple of bowlers to fill that void. Those are the things we will try to sort out in near future.”
The visitors will have a new captain in Tamim Iqbal, who replaces injured regular skipper Mashrafe Mortaza, who picked up a hamstring injury during training last week. Fast-bowling all-rounder Mohammad Saifuddin was also ruled out for the series after he aggravated an old back injury. Earlier, Bangladesh’s best player Shakib Al Hasan and batsman Liton Das were also rested from taking the flight to Sri Lanka.
“I thought we had a pretty decent World Cup. There were few games, that we should have won. If you see the points table, you will think we had a pretty bad World Cup because we were number eight. “Tamim Iqbal, Bangladesh’s most senior batsman and stand-in captain said.
“We as players felt that we could have done more but we’re now in a stage where playing good cricket doesn’t matter to us anymore, winning games is more important than anything else. There are few important players, who are missing out this series due to various reasons but all the players in the squad are very capable. Playing Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka will be difficult.”
Bangladesh have not won an ODI series in Sri Lanka. The most recent bilateral ODI series played in the island between these two nations, in 2017, ended in a 1-1 draw.
Sri Lanka Squad – Dimuth Karunaratne (Captain), Kusal Perera, Avishka Fernando, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Lahiru Thirimanne, Danushka Gunathilaka, Shehan Jayasuriya, Niroshan Dickwella, Dhananjaya De Silva, Akila Dananjaya, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lakshan Sandakan, Amila Aponso, Dasun Shanaka, Thisara Perera, Isuru Udana, Lahiru Madusanka, Lasith Malinga, Kasun Rajitha, Lahiru Kumara, Nuwan Pradeep
Bangladesh Squad – Tamim Iqbal (Captain), Soumya Sarkar, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riad, Mohammad Mithun, Mosaddek Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Mustafizur Rahman, Anamul Haque, Mehedi Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Farhad Reza, Taskin Ahmed
Tour Fixtures
- 26th July (Friday) – 1st ODI – R. Premadasa Stadium – (D/N)
- 28th July (Sunday)– 2nd ODI – R. Premadasa Stadium– (D/N)
- 31st July (Wednesday) – 3rd ODI – R. Premadasa Stadium – (D/N)
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