Pressure is on Bangladesh; we have nothing to lose, says Isuru Udana

Isuru Udana (extreme right) at training with other team members at the National Cricket Academy grounds in Dhaka

White ball all-rounder Isuru Udana has said that Sri Lanka having brought a rather young side to Bangladesh for the three-match ODI series had nothing to lose and the pressure and expectations were on the home country.

“Actually, to be honest, Bangladesh have a few superstars in their team. But still we have a young side and we have nothing to lose,” Udana told reporters at the BCB Academy premises. 

“I think we are here to beat them, so we want to give our best to beat those guys, because, in their home, they are very dangerous,” he added. 

Udana believed that his experience in the Bangladesh Premier League will help him as he is well-aware of the strength and weakness of their opponent. 

“I think I have played three-four years of BPL (Bangladesh Premier League) here, so I have a bit of experience. On the very day, we have to give our best to beat this team, so that’s the plan,” he said. 

Sri Lanka opted to come out of their hotel room earlier than their scheduled time and that too escaping all the media as they decided to run at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in the morning to adapt to the condition while following it up with their usual routine preparation in the evening. 

Sri Lankan head coach Mickey Arthur spent most of the time making his plans with skipper Kusal Perera while batting coach Grant Flower made sure everyone was on their toes in the fielding session. 

Chaminda Vaas is known to be a seasoned campaigner and the bowling coach was seen sharing his experience with a young crop of pace bowlers from the island. 

It was hot and humid in Dhaka on Thursday, 35 degree Celsius to be precise. The rigorous fielding sessions in the evening along with batting and bowling looked to have taken their toll on the visitors, though pace bowling all-rounder Udana decided to disagree. 

“Actually, I don’t think so (heat is a problem) because, in Sri Lanka, it’s hotter than this,” said Udana. 

“The thing is, we’re quite used to the bio-bubble thing now, going forward, we have to stick to those plans, so I think we are ready because we had the five-six days training camp in Colombo. We had a good two sessions in here so I think all the guys are ready,” he added. 

Sri Lanka has sent a relatively new team as the team management decided to go for young guns instead of their tried and tested and according to Udana that will give them an edge over the hosts as they have nothing to lose and the expectation will be on the shoulder of the host team.

Tamim Iqbal in thunderous form

In preparation for the series Bangladesh’s cricketers played a practice match between BCB Red and BCB Green at the BKSP ground on Thursday with Red winning the contest by five wickets. BCB Green team scored 284 runs losing only three wickets in 45 overs. Soumya Sarkar and Mahmudullah Riyad scored 60 and 62 runs respectively (retired). Afifi Hossain added 64. Sheikh Mahedi Hasan grabbed two wickets along with one wicket for Shoriful Islam.

In pursuit of the target, BCB Red team’s opener Tamim Iqbal scored a thunderous 80 in 58 balls while smashing seven fours and four sixes. Mushfiqur Rahim scored 64 runs (retired). They surpassed their target easily, reaching 288 runs by losing five wickets in 41 overs.