Sri Lanka leave for Bangladesh for two Tests

By Rex Clementine

The national cricket team left for Dhaka in the early hours of yesterday for a two match Test series against Bangladesh. The Tests are part of the World Test Championship and Sri Lanka will be looking to maintain their unbeaten run in Bangladesh in Test match cricket.Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne, who is contracted with English county Yorkshire  did not travel with the team. He is expected to join  the team straight from London today after a game at Chelmsford against Essex.This is Chris Silverwood’s first assignment as the Head Coach of the national cricket team. The former England boss has put down building up a strong crop of fast bowlers as one of his priorities. He also stressed on improving the team’s ICC Rankings, which does not reflect too good currently as Sri Lanka are ranked seventh in Tests, eighth in ODIs and ninth in T-20s. If Sri Lanka fail to win one of the Test matches, they will slip down in rankings and slump to number eight, below West Indies.Silverwood, the former Yorkshire fast bowler replaced Mickey Arthur last month after the national cricket team was without a Head Coach for five months.

There are couple of spots up for grabs in the line-up with Suranga Lakmal retired from Test cricket and Pathum Nissanka not part of the touring party due to injury. Lahiru Thirimanne, who opened batting during the recent tour of India is also missing. Oshada Fernando has returned to the squad after an impressive domestic season and so has Kasun Rajitha.

Although Sri Lanka’s batting flopped during the tour of India, it’s expected to deliver the goods against a weaker Bangladesh attack. However, the team’s bowling remains a concern with doubts over whether they are capable of taking 20 wickets in a Test match. The return of Ramesh  Mendis is some consolation for the tourists. The off-spinner missed the India Tests due to injury.The  national cricket team has a packed schedule in the next five months. Soon after the Bangladesh series, Sri Lanka will host Australia and Pakistan in bilateral series involving all three formats.The nation is also set to host the Asia Cup and the qualifiers but the fate of that competition hangs in the balance as Board of Control for Cricket in India has raised concerns due to the economic crisis in the country. The Asia Cup will be followed by the T-20 World Cup in Australia. In between, Sri Lanka will also host the Lanka Premier League. The franchise tournament that was played in December in the last two years has been moved to August this year.