Series sans two captains

The two captains Wanindu Hasaranga and Najmul Hossain Shanto pose before the T20I series trophy

• Sri Lanka-Bangladesh T20I matches commence today

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will begin a three-match T20I series at Sylhet today sans their appointed full-time captains Wanindu Hasaranga and Shakib Al Hasan.

The captains are not there for different reasons, Hasaranga undergoing a two-match ban imposed by the ICC for making remarks against umpire Lyndon Hannibal and Shakib for a troublesome eye problem.

In their absence two left-handed top order batsmen will lead the respective sides. Charith Asalanka (26), the vice-captain will captain Sri Lanka for the first time in the first two T20Is, while Najmul Hossain Shanto (25) has been appointed as Bangladesh captain for the next 12 months. Najmul of course has captained Bangladesh before in all three formats (Tests, ODIs and T20Is) and has some experience behind him, but as for Asalanka it will be the first time at international level although he has led his country in the Under-19 World Cup.

Hasaranga is due to return as captain for the third and final T20I, but by that time the series will be decided one way or the other or be locked at one-all.

“Wanindu is missing two matches, it is something we have to deal with,” said Sri Lanka’s head coach Chris Silverwood at the pre-match press conference. “Wanindu has accepted his punishment. All we have to do now is move on. It’s a great opportunity for other people within the squad to get great game time leading into the World Cup.”

Not only Hasaranga, but Sri Lanka will be without their prolific run scorer in white ball cricket Pathum Nissanka who is recovering from a hamstring strain.

“Missing Pathum is a big loss. We’ve seen in the last 7-8 months he has become a very consistent player in the top of the order for Sri Lanka. We’ve seen some super knocks from him both in the ODI and T20I cricket. The great thing is it won’t be too long before he will be returning to us. He is a very valuable and respected member of the squad,” said Silverwood.

For both teams the series will be a preparation for the upcoming T20 World Cup. For Sri Lanka it will be their last series before the big event, whereas Bangladesh will go straight into their Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) which would give them more time to prepare.

Najmul in his first media conference said that he is confident of a strong showing from his side and added that no attention was being given to occasionally acrimonious incidents in games between the two sides like the Nagin dance or the timed-out dismissal controversy surrounding Angelo Mathews and Shakib during the Cricket World Cup in India.

“We have hundred percent faith that we can win the series,” said Najmul. “Against Sri Lanka we are not thinking about outside things like what happened in the past and hopefully will have a good series. We are focusing on our plan and will do what we need to do and hopefully will have a good series.”

“Every international series brings pressure, and it is true for us as well as the opponent and it will remain that way. Everyone is mature enough to handle these things. They (Sri Lanka) have a very good team and they especially have all-rounders. But still, we are playing in home conditions, so there will be advantages for us. I hope we can play some good cricket,” he said.

Since that incident Mathews has made a successful comeback to T20I cricket after being left out for several years. He may have a thing or two to prove during the series especially with Chandika Hathurusinghe being on the opposite camp as coach. When Hathurusinghe was Sri Lanka’s coach, the relationship between Mathews and him was not all that rosy.

“Expect it to be a very competitive series between two good sides. What happened in the past for me is history, it’s gone. My perspective is to concentrate on what is in front of us,” said Silverwood.

“We are now in the build up towards the World Cup like all other teams and we have a good competition in front of us to do that. Two good teams, both will be pushing very hard to win in the series. It’s all building up to the World Cup now, so we want to start showing that we are playing top cricket. We played some very good T20 cricket, so I expect it to continue. In our game plans to continue to develop as a team and keep working hard towards that and playing our own brand of cricket.”