Hathurusinghe confident of B’desh giving Sri Lanka a good fight

 Sri Lanka’s T20I bowling is amongst the top three in the world says Hathurusinghe

Bangladesh coach 

Chandika Hathurusinghe

• Rates Sri Lanka’s T20 bowling among the top three in the world 

Former Sri Lanka cricketer who is now the head coach of the Bangladesh cricket team Chandika Hathurusinghe has said that Sri Lanka’s T20I bowling ranks among the top three teams in the world and the upcoming series would be a good challenge for Bangladesh.

“There is a real competition. Sri Lanka is a very good T20 side. Their bowling is among the top three teams in the world,” Hathurusinghe told ESPNCricinfo. “We are developing as a T20 team. We are underdogs, to be honest. It is a good challenge for us. I am still confident we will give them a good fight. We will understand where we are at, ahead of the World Cup, after this series.”

Hathurusinghe was critical of Bangladesh not having a proper T20 tournament and said that they were far behind world standards.

“We don’t have a proper T20 tournament. This sounds very odd but when I am watching the BPL, I sometimes turn off the TV. Some players are not even of the class. I have a big issue with the current system,” said Hathurusinghe.

“The ICC needs to step in. Our board needs to do something about us. There has to be some regulations. A player is playing one tournament and then playing another tournament. It is like a circus. Players will talk about opportunities, but that’s not right. People will lose interest. I have lost interest.”

“We need to have a tournament where our players can do things - like Bangladesh players batting in the top three, Bangladesh bowlers bowling in the death. Where will we learn these things otherwise? We have only one tournament. My ideal suggestion is that we have another tournament before the BPL. A franchise does what it wants. Some of my best players are not playing (the BPL). So then, how do you expect the Bangladesh team to be up with the other teams? I am fighting a steep battle.”

Hathurusinghe played for Sri Lanka between 1991 and 1999 in 26 Tests and 35 ODIs and later served as an ‘A’ team coach and was also head coach of the Sri Lanka national team from December 2017 till January 2020. 

Meanwhile, veteran all-rounder Mahmudullah has returned to the national T20I set-up for the first time since 2022 when he was named in Bangladesh’s limited-over squads for the upcoming bilateral series against Sri Lanka.

The 38-year-old, who played his last T20I against Sri Lanka during the Asia Cup in Dubai, had been overlooked for the last one and a half years, but his scintillating performance in the ICC World Cup in India as well as the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League, made the selectors bring him back to the side. However, another veteran and former skipper Shakib Al Hasan was not included for either the T20Is or the opening two ODIs of the three-match series due to his eye problem.

The three T20I will be held in Sylhet respectively on 4, 6 and 9 March and it will be followed by an ODI series, scheduled on 13, 15 and 18 March respectively. The limited-over series will be followed by a two-match Test series, which is a part of the 2023-25 ICC World Test Championship cycle. The series will start with the first match in Sylhet on 22-26 March while the second Test will be held between 30 March and 3 April in Chattogram.