Asia Cup : Injury-hit Tigers take on Lions today

Bangladesh will be looking to get off to a good start in the Asia Cup 2023 when they meet Sri Lanka in their opening Group B encounter of the regional tournament at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium in Kandy today.

The match will start at 3:30pm (BST) and will be telecast live on T Sports.
The Tigers, who have big expectations from the tournament as it is taking place in their favourite 50-over format for the first time since 2018, were hit by several injury problems before their campaign got underway.

Bangladesh suffered the first blow before leaving the country when in-form pacer Ebadot Hossain was ruled out of the competition due to a knee injury while they sustained another setback when they lost opener Liton Das due to viral fever only one day before their opening match.

Liton’s absence forced the team management to include wicketkeeper-batsman Anamul Haque Bijoy in their squad for the tournament while uncapped pacer Tanzim Hasan Sakib replaced Ebadot in the squad. However, their opposition, Sri Lanka, are not in a better situation as well taking in terms of the fitness issue as they would be without their top players like Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Dilshan Madushanka and Lahiru Kumara in the tournament as all of them had been suffering from injuries.

Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan, who will begin his new tenure as 50-over captain with this match after Tamim Iqbal quit the job earlier this month, finds similarity between both sides’ current situation and claims that there is an equal chance for both neighbouring nations to win the contest.

The match is important for both teams as after the game, they will travel to Pakistan to face the third team in this group – Afghanistan – to play their respective last group matches. Two teams from this group will qualify for the Super Four stage of the tournament.

“I think both teams are in a similar situation and those who will play well in the field will win. Both teams have similar strengths and weaknesses, so it’s an equal opportunity for both teams,” Shakib told reporters during a press conference in Kandy on Wednesday.
“We would like to win of course. We want to play good cricket but having said that, playing Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka won’t be easy,” he added.

Shakib, however, hailed the consistency of his team in this regional tournament over the last decade while he also claimed that their good performance in the tournament would give them confidence building to the upcoming World Cup.

Bangladesh reached the final of the tournament three times out of the last five editions (including the T20Is) but they had to finish on the losing side on each occasion.

“If you talk about the last four-five Asia Cups, including the T20s, I think we have done well. We have played three finals, so we are consistent,” he said.

“This has been said a lot of time that most teams are looking at the preparations for the World Cup. But having said that, the Asia Cup is not a small tournament. It itself is a big tournament, it has history, it has some great games,” Shakib said.

“So, it is a very important tournament and we are taking this tournament very seriously. And if we do well here, it will give us confidence building to the World Cup,” he added.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka insisted that they have no control over the injuries but he backed his young side to perform well in the tournament.

“We can’t have control over injuries. You know the players who unfortunately missed out — Hasaranga, Chameera…they are big players, experienced players,” he said.

“But we have a young side and this will be a good experience for them and we are looking forward to the tournament ...Last time (in the 2022 Asia Cup) also we went in as underdogs and lost our first game against Afghanistan. But we still managed to finish with the trophy,” said Shanaka, who lifted the trophy of the previous edition of the Asia Cup in the UAE which was held in T20 format.

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