True test of Sri Lanka’s strength; meets Bangladesh today

Sri Lanka (ranked 10th) takes on Bangladesh (ranked 6th) in a T20 World Cup warm-up match today

• Sri Lanka begins preparations for T20 World Cup with warm-up match in Abu Dhabi

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Sri Lanka who defeated associate nation Oman in their two warm-up matches will face their real test when they meet Bangladesh in another warm-up game at Abu Dhabi today in a lead up to the T20 World Cup qualifiers which begins on 17 October.

Facing the Bangladeshis will certainly give an indication of Sri Lanka’s true capabilities in the upcoming World Cup.

Former captain Dinesh Chandimal in a virtual press conference yesterday to announce the official team sponsor for the T20 World Cup, AstroPay said: “We all know how good Bangladesh is. They have played some outstanding cricket in the last couple of series. They are a really good side in world cricket at the moment, especially in the shorter format. As a team we want to take the challenge, the boys are in good shape and we want to get a good start to the tournament from tomorrow (Tuesday).”

The Bangladeshis are also one of the teams like Sri Lanka who have to go through the qualifying phase for a place in the Super12s, but they are in a different group. Only the top two sides of each group go through to the tournament proper which commences on 23 October. Although Sri Lanka has a 7-4 lead in the 11 T20Is they have played against Bangladesh, the latter has won their last two contests by five wickets and two wickets at the R Premadasa Stadium in 2018.

While Sri Lanka’s performance has been somewhat inconsistent for the 2021 calendar year winning just 3 out of 12 T20Is (9 losses), Bangladesh on the other hand has 9 wins out of 16 T20Is (7 losses). Bangladesh has in fact won their last three T20I series beating Zimbabwe 2-1, Australia 4-1, and New Zealand 3-2 and are on top of their game. 

Sri Lanka cannot boast of such a constant run having suffered 3-0 whitewashes apiece at the hands of England and South Africa respectively and won 2-1 against a depleted India, which is a reflection of their current ICC T20I ranking of 10th compared to Bangladesh’s sixth.

Bangladesh are coming fresh from a comprehensive 60-run win over Oman A in a warm-up game played on Friday. They posted a huge total of 207-4 and restricted Oman A to 147-9. They have never progressed beyond the Super Eights of the T20 World Cup and are certain to improve on that record this time around.

Sri Lanka will be strengthened for this warm-up contest against Bangladesh by the return of all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga and fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera. The pair were involved in the IPL with Royal Challengers Bangalore. Hasaranga played in two matches but Chameera failed to get a game and Sri Lanka will be keen to give their main strike bowler some match practice under his belt before the qualifying games.

“Wanindu and Dushmantha joined us yesterday (Sunday) and from what I can see they will play tomorrow against Bangladesh,” said Chandimal.

The match could also see the return of dashing opener Kusal Perera after recovering from a hamstring injury sustained during the home series against South Africa last month. Whether Sri Lanka would risk playing him is a matter of conjecture. Perera has so far been treated with kid gloves being rested for the two warm-up games against Oman.

From the Sri Lanka squad of 15 named for the World Cup, vice-captain Dhananjaya de Silva is the only one who has yet to play in a warm-up match apart from Kusal Perera, Hasaranga and Chameera.

To overcome their top order batting failures Sri Lanka has done a few adjustments to their line-up by promoting Pathum Nissanka to open the batting with Chandimal and relegating hard-hitting opener Avishka Fernando to the no. 4 slot.

“Before we came to Oman, we played three practice games in Sri Lanka and Avishka was asked to bat at number 4. He scored runs in these matches as well as in the two warm-up games against Oman. At present I have been given the role to open the batting and keep wickets, but if the team needs me to bat elsewhere I can, in any position. I can field as well. 

“It’s left to the selectors and the coaches to decide on that. Whatever position I am asked to bat I want to perform well for the team,” said Chandimal when asked what position he would be batting when Kusal Perera return to the side.

Following the match against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka has one other warm-up fixture against Papua New Guinea at Abu Dhabi on 14 October before commencing their T20 World Cup campaign qualifier against Namibia on 18 October at the same venue.