Believe this next bit of information at your own risk, but, a while ago, word spread like wildfire that tickets for the Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh clash were sold out well before India vs Pakistan.
Maybe it’s true, maybe it’s not. Either way, assuming the information to be real (for obvious reasons), you can sort of understand why such a thing would happen.
Of course, Sri Lanka are the home team, so understandably, every single person in the country would want a piece of their team. That is not rocket science.
But, beyond that, such has been the craziness of this rivalry in the past half-a-decade or so that this really is the one match anyone wouldn’t wanna miss watching live, at any cost.
For one, the cricket itself has delivered. Outside bilaterals, the two sides have met five times since the start of 2018 (2x Asia Cup, 2x Nidahas Trophy, 1x T20 World Cup) and all but one of these games have gone right down to the wire. They’ve been competitive, and the results have also been evenly spread.
But it’s the on and off-field drama that has truly elevated this rivalry to a whole different level. The infamous Naagin Dance incident happened in the 2018 Nidahas Trophy but after an extremely heated couple of weeks, things settled down. However, the Asia Cup clash last year reignited the tension and sent tempers flaring again.
A throwaway comment from Dasun Shanaka — who said Bangladesh do not have too many world class bowlers — upset the Tigers, who looked to have sealed the last laugh on the field, as they had Sri Lanka on the ropes in a virtual knockout match. However, an astonishing turnaround saw the Lankans snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
And to celebrate the unlikely win — a win that proved to be defining as Sri Lanka went on to win the Asia Cup — Chamika Karunaratne pulled out the good ol Naagin Dance to keep the joke running, and the rivalry going.
And so a year later, here we are.
A full-strength Sri Lanka vs a full-strength Bangladesh would have been some spectacle to look forward to, but unfortunately, the clash has been plagued by injuries. While Sri Lanka pretty much have lost their entire first-choice bowling attack to injury, Bangladesh, too, will be without the services of Tamim Iqbal, Liton Das and Ebadot Hossain.
But if recent history is any evidence to go by, we’re in for a cracker regardless.
Things to watch out for
Can Towhid Hridoy continue his rise?
Having lost two bilateral ODI series at home, Bangladesh have not had the greatest of years result-wise, but a shining light for the Tigers has been the emergence of young Towhid Hridoy. The 22-year-old made his debut in the ODIs against Ireland and shone instantly, posting an aggressive 92 on debut, and he’s since shown exceptional consistency: after 9 ODIs, his average reads 48.28 with him striking at 97.68.
Breaking into the ODI side on the back of impressive domestic showings — including a 400-run BPL season — Hridoy has slotted into the Bangladesh middle-order seamlessly, and in his short career has already shown that he has multiple dimensions to his game. However, the youngster is about to face his biggest challenge yet, even despite the fact that Sri Lanka are without several of their first-choice bowlers.
The Tigers are slightly handicapped on the batting front due to injuries to Tamim and Liton but Hridoy continuing his rise will go a long way in stabilizing Bangladesh’s batting. What’s good from a Bangladesh perspective is that Hridoy is already acclimated to these conditions thanks to his stint with Jaffna Kings in the recently-concluded Lanka Premier League (LPL) season. There, Hridoy, opening the batting, managed to post 155 runs at an average of 38.75 and SR of 135.96.
It’ll also be interesting to see if Bangladesh promote Hridoy to open the batting in the absence of Liton.
All eyes on Dasun Shanaka’s batting
Dasun Shanaka the skipper enjoyed an outstanding tournament in the World Cup qualifiers as Sri Lanka won the competition unbeaten, but Shanaka the batter had an absolute shocker of a tournament, averaging a flabbergasting 2.40, posting as many as five single-digit scores (highest score of 5). He’s since had a decent LPL season — 142 runs @ 28.40 and 142.00 — but the jury is still out on Shanaka the ODI batter.
Shanaka is averaging 21.00 with the bat since the start of 2021 — across 39 ODIs — and has, in this period, posted two hundreds, the most recent of them being the stunning unbeaten ton he hit in Guwahati against India at the start of this year. Sri Lanka, hence, are aware Shanaka has the x-factor but the concern is how low his floor can get; in the last three years, outside the two tons, he’s averaging a mere 15.73, having posted no other fifty-plus scores.
With both Chandimal and Mathews out with injury, Sri Lanka are thin on the batting front too, and will desperately need Shanka to rise up to the occasion with the bat.
The potential return of Kusal Perera
In a curious move, Sri Lanka have recalled the experienced Kusal Perera, who last played an ODI in 2021. Veterans forcing their way back into the set-up on the back of big runs is not uncommon, but Perera’s case is curious since he’s played all of three List A matches in the last two years, all coming in March this year.
What will be interesting to see is if Sri Lanka slot Perera back into the side straight away. The 33-year-old is coming on the back of a decent LPL season — 210 runs @ 35.00 & 128.83 — but lack of long-format match fitness could be a concern. But considering Perera, back in April, slotted into the T20 side right away despite not having played a professional T20 match for over a year, the possibility of a direct recall cannot be ruled out.
Pitch and conditions
The clash will be played at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, which of late has proven to be a pretty high scoring venue. 287 has been the average bat-first score since 2020, and in the last ODI at this venue, Sri Lanka managed to successfully chase 314 against Afghanistan. In fact, in the last 9 ODIs at this venue, 300 has been posted by the side batting first four times, with the chasing side also crossing the 300-run mark thrice.
What’s interesting about Pallekele is that it’s not offered the spinners a lot of joy: since 2020, among venues in Sri Lanka that have hosted 5+ ODIs, spinners have averaged the highest at Pallekele (36.5). It’s also the only venue where the spinners’ economy has exceeded 5.00 (5.30). Pacers might hence play a big role in Thursday’s clash.
All that being said, thunderstorms are expected between 10 AM and 4PM local time, so we could see a brief delay in proceedings.
Click here for the Asia Cup 2023 schedule
Tactical Nous
Twice in the three-match ODI series against Afghanistan, Mohammad Naim was bowled by the left-arm pace of Fazalhaq Farooqi. Since 2021 in T20Is, he’s also averaged just 20.00 vs left-arm pacers, his second-lowest against any bowling type.
This might be reason enough for Sri Lanka to include Binura Fernando in the starting XI. Fernando has not played an ODI since 2021 but he’s in good form, having had a pretty good LPL 2023 where he picked 10 wickets at an E.R of 6.00.
Possible XIs
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Kusal Mendis (wk), Charith Asalanka, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dasun Shanaka ©, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Kasun Rajitha, Binura Fernando / Matheesha Pathirana
Bangladesh: Mohammad Naim, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Mustafizur Rahman, Nasum Ahmed