SL v BAN, 1st T20I, Preview: Unsettled hosts wary of Bangladesh firepower

The Bangladesh team has done everything right on the tour thus far. They have managed to unsettle the hosts Sri Lanka in the Tests and the ODIs. Now comes the shortest format of the game and they will perhaps fancy their chances the most to register a series win here. Prior to the commencement of the tour, nobody had given a sniff of a win on the tour, let alone be a series leveling performance.

After having lost the first Test, these claims only got strengthened. However, the kind of performances they put after that was very impressive. They won the Colombo Test to level the series. Then came the ODIs, when they put their noses ahead by winning the first match of the season. Bangladesh ended up leveling both the series 1-1. With two T20Is lined up next, they will expect to continue their winning momentum and hope to carry forward the winning momentum from one match to the next.

However, having said that, Sri Lanka must not be taken lightly. Albeit they have had contrasting fortunes in the ODI and Test cricket, they have been quite impressive with the shortest format. They won the T20Is in South Africa and Australia. This very fact makes them the favorites to win the series against Bangladesh too.

Focus will be on

Asela Gunaratne

Hard hitting batsman Asela Gunaratne has been the revelation for the Sri Lankan team in the shortest format of the game this season. His heroics in South Africa and Australia spoke volumes about his talent. Moreover, the fact that he has an IPL contract under his name only makes the viewers more excited about his game play in the series. Soon after the series, he will be heading to India to join the Mumbai Indians camp. Certainly, his IPL owners will also be keeping a close eye on him.

Sabbir Rahman

Sabbir Rahman is one of the most promising young talents from the Bangladesh unit. Moreover, he fancies the shortest of the game the most and that makes him a player to watch out for. He will be holding the key to the middle order chances for the visitors in the short series. For the stats keeper, he was the only batsman to have scored a century in the Bangladesh Premier League this season. In addition to that, his fifties in the recently concluded ODI series against the same opposition makes him a top bid for being the star performer.

Team News

Sri Lanka

Kusal Perera is slated to be included in the playing eleven for the match. He passed the fitness Test and has been declared available for selection. This will add experience to the top order of Sri Lanka. The selection conundrum for them will be in the bowling category where they might be tempted to play rookie Vikum Sanjaya in place of veteran bowler Nuwan Kulasekara. It is the experience of Kulasekara that might see him make the cut.

Lakshan Sandakan is also likely to make a comeback to the playing eleven after having missed the ODIs on the tour.  Among the all-rounders, veteran war horse Thisara Perera will continue to be in the side along with Seekkuge Prasanna, who is a proven hitter of the cricket ball. The onus will also be on veteran batsman Chamara Kapugedara who has not been in the thick of action in the recent times.

Bangladesh

Bangladeshi think tank will try not to tinker too much with their playing eleven. They are lucky in the aspect that they have a young side and most of their players feature in all the three formats of the game. Batting looks set with Tamim Iqbal striking good form. Soumya Sarkar and Sabbir Rahman have been performing well in short spells. Mahmudullah, the all-rounder, has been out of form in the recent times.

His quiet shows have led to the talks of him being axed from the side. Hence, he will be under immense pressure to perform with both bat and the ball. They will have to pick one among Mehedi Hasan and Sunzamul Islam in the spin department and it will only surprising if they go ahead with Sunzamul.

Probable XI

Sri Lanka

Danushka Gunathilaka, Dilshan Munaweera, Upul Tharanga (c), Chamara Kapugedara, Asela Gunaratne, Kusal Perera, Seekkuge Prasanna, Thisara Perera, Lakshan Sandakan, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga

Bangladesh

Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Sabbir Rahman, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Mosaddek Hossain Saikat, Mahmudullah, Mehedi Hasan, Mashrafe Mortaza (C), Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed

StatAttack

1000 – Only two Bangladeshi batsmen have scored more than 1000 international runs – Tamim Iqbal (1202) and Shakib Al Hasan (1159).

3 – Sabbir Rahman has won three Player of the Match trophies for Bangladesh – the most by any Bangladeshi player.

1 – Number of matches Sri Lanka has won at the venue at Colombo.