The Sri Lankan tour of the Bangladesh team would be looked at with a great deal of anticipation and expectation since this would perhaps be the first time when Bangladesh team would be facing a full fledged test team of equal strength.
Former National opener Ishtiaque Ahmad taking to BSS on Sunday said, ” Without trying to undermine the Sri Lankan team of present times it can surely be said with some degree of certainty that the absence of Mahela Jayawardena, Kumara Sangakara, Dilshan Tilekaratne and even the gradually declining effectiveness of Lasith Malinga has taken away the dominant flavour that the team exuded previously.
The present crop of players will have everything to play for albeit lacking in a combined experience of their main players given that their opponents have gathered considerable experience at this level which makes the tussle between the two sides quite exciting in prospect.
Mushfiqur Rahims double century will be fresh on his mind as it was with Mohammad Ashraful that they managed to put up a score in excess of 600 runs and was able to end the series on a satisfying note.
Even though some of the seniors have gathered a great deal of experience and confidence since the last time the two sides met and it was more in the one dayers that Bangladesh have established themselves as world beaters and it has been the contributions of the senior players especially that has set the tempo.
The emergence of new comers like the hard hitting Shabbir Rahman, the sensational Mustafizur Rahman, the graceful and stroke filled Soumya Sarkar and the wiles and guiles of Mehdi Hasan the young off spinner and the young Speedsters Taskin Ahmed and Kamrul Islam Rabbi has indeed made the Bangladesh side a great deal more exciting and potent in its approach skills.
Therefore, the two test matches along with the three one dayers and two T20’s in Sri Lanka present the statisticians and the media with lots of interesting opportunities and moments to ponder with.
The likes of Mustafizur Rahman, Taskin Ahmed, Soumya Sarkar, Mehdi Hasan Miraj and the rest ought to grab this opportunity with both hands and not rest on past glories as only class is what is permanent while form is temporary.
