Bangladesh to play 100th Test in Sri Lanka

Bangladesh will play their 100th Test match, against Sri Lanka, on 15 March in Colombo. Having played their first Test in November 2000, Bangladesh will be the last of the Full Members to complete the century, having taken little over 16 years to the mark.

The visitors will begin their tour with a two-day practice game in Moratuwa before the first Test in Galle on 7 March and their milestone match at P Sara Oval a week later.

The limited-overs leg begins with a warm-up game on 22 March, before Dambulla hosts the first and second ODIs on 25 and 28 March. The series concludes in Colombo - unusually at the SSC, which has not hosted an ODI since 2011.

Sri Lanka Cricket CEO Ashley de Silva said the decision to play this match - a day game - was made on the basis that Bangladesh were not a major drawcard. The SSC has a capacity of about 10,000. “The reason we don’t host one-day games at SSC when we play other teams, is because we feel we won’t be able to accommodate the crowds there - the capacity is very limited at SSC,” de Silva said. “But when we play against Bangladesh, though there will be crowds, it will not exceed the capacity which can be accommodated as SSC, I’m sure.”

“When you play at a smaller ground also, it would seem like there are crowds - even for a Bangladesh tour. We can market it better.”

The two T20Is to finish the tour, however, will be played at Khettarama.

Bangladesh recall Mustafizur for Lanka Tests

AFP: Bangladesh on Tuesday recalled their left-arm fast bowler Mustafizur Rahman in a 16-man squad for the upcoming two-Test series in Sri Lanka after his prolonged injury lay-off.

The 21-year-old has not played a Test since his debut series against South Africa in 2015 after suffering a series of injuries. He underwent surgery on his shoulder last year.

While he made a brief return to the limited-overs side against New Zealand at the turn of the year, he was not deemed fit enough to withstand the rigours of a five-day Test match. Bangladesh are due to play two Tests against the Sri Lankans - one in Galle from 7-11 March and another in the capital Colombo which starts on 15 March and will be their 100th Test match.

They are then scheduled to play three 50-over ODIs before facing off for two Twenty20 international matches at the tailend of the tour, which wraps up on April 6. The selectors also handed fast bowler Rubel Hossain a recall after he was ignored for Bangladesh’s recent defeat in a one-off Test against India, meaning there are five pacemen in the squad.

“We think we would require an extra pacer in testing conditions in Sri Lanka,” said chief selector Minhajul Abedin.

Opening batsman Imrul Kayes was not named in the squad after he failed to recover sufficiently from a thigh injury picked up in India. But Abedin said he could be called up for the second Test if he regains fitness. Squad: Mushfiqur Rahim (capt), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Mominul Haque, Mahmudullah Riyad, Shakib Al Hasan, Sabbir Rahman, Liton Das, Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Kamrul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Mehedi Hasan, Mosaddek Hossain, Subashis Roy and Rubel Hossain.