With two days to complete a 14-day quarantine, Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and left-arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman joined the national team practice camp Tuesday.
Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are scheduled to lock horns in a three-match ODI series in Dhaka.
Both Shakib and Mustafizur returned home from India on May 6 and entered a 14-day institutional quarantine in two different hotels in the capital. BCB requested the Directorate General of Health Services to relax the quarantine but in an earlier response, they denied it.
However, on the rain-hit first day of the camp, Shakib and Mustafizur got little time to hone their skill. Most of the time of the day’s practice plan, they were stuck in the dressing room.
Bangladesh included leg-spinner Aminul Islam Biplob in the squad, who was not part of the preliminary squad. Minhazul Abedin, the chief selector of BCB, told UNB that the leggy was added for the intra-squad practice game only. The practice game will take place at BKSP on May 20.
The Sri Lanka ODI team are in Bangladesh. They currently are maintaining a two-day in-room quarantine in Dhaka. They are scheduled to start their practice on May 19.
While the first match of the series will take place on May 23, the remaining matches will be played on May 25 and 28. All of these matches will be hosted at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
Bangladesh never won a series against Sri Lanka. But this time around, the hosts have a good chance to end the drought as they are a more experienced side compared to the current bunch of Sri Lankan players.
Bangladesh played a three-match ODI series against Sri Lanka after the World Cup 2019 under Tamim Iqbal and lost the series 3-0. So the forthcoming series came as a chance for the hosts to give the Lankan a strong reply.
Bangladesh may miss the service of Rubel Hossain in this series due to back pain. Rubel is the most successful Bangladeshi bowlers against Sri Lanka at home, taking 18 wickets in 11 matches.
However, Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur are in the team, who have the ability to fill up the vacuum left by Rubel. Both Taskin and Mustafizur did well in the last series in New Zealand earlier this year. Taskin also did well in Sri Lanka in Tests while Mustafizur was in great form in the Indian Premier League for the Rajasthan Royals, reports UNB.
