Head coach Russell Domingo cautioned Bangladesh against complacency ahead of the three-match ODI series against the visiting Sri Lanka, stating that despite being inexperienced, the Island nation has some excellent players who can take away the game if they are given the space.
Sri Lanka opted for youth over experience, leaving out trusted seniors like Angelo Mathews, Dimuth Karunaratne and Lahiru Thirimanne, and thrusting wicket-keeper batsman Kusal Perera into the leadership role.
Domingo believes while Sri Lanka players will try to play an aggressive brand of cricket, they will also be keen to prove a point.
“I think these are two evenly matched sides. I suppose home ground advantage being quite a big factor in international cricket, we always start as favourites. We cannot underestimate Sri Lanka. They have some seriously good players who will be keen to prove a point,” Domingo said on saturday.
“Sri Lanka have left out one or two big players – there’s no Chandimal and Mathews. We have a more experienced batting line-up than they do. We know that they have some quality players in Kusal Perera and Kusal Mendis. I think it is pretty evenly matched. They will be trying to play an aggressive brand of cricket with a young team.”
With Shakib Al Hasan returning to the fold after missing the New Zealand and Sri Lanka tour, Bangladesh now got their full strength back. Shakib’s inclusion bolstered Bangladesh’s bowling and batting line up but Domingo said the Tigers should not be relaxed.
Considering the fact that Bangladesh has gone winless in the last 10 matches-four Tests, three ODIs and three T20Is – over the last four months after their 3-0 win over West Indies in ODI series, the caution is justified.
“Our top-order got good batting time and preparation this week. I am really looking forward to how the two batting line-ups match up in the next week,” he said.
“We have gone through a lean period of results. But we have to learn from the mistakes from the last couple of months. There’s no point focusing on the past. We have to look forward. If we play to our potential in tomorrow’s game, we can give ourselves a chance of winning. We can’t always control the result but we can control the way we prepare, our mindset and thinking,” Domingo remarked.
