Desk Report:
Enemy-friend-enemy—The continuity of the rivalry between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka over the past few days can also be expressed in this way. This cloud, this rain can be said to be this friendship, this hostility.
The day after yesterday in Abu Dhabi, Bangladesh’s fate was decided by Sri Lanka. The point was something like this—’If the Lankans win against the Afghans, Bangladesh will win too.’ Forgetting the recent rivalry surrounding the match, Bangladesh fans became Sri Lankan supporters. The day after yesterday in Abu Dhabi, most Sri Lankans wanted Bangladesh to reach the Super Four. There are two reasons. First, they did not want to lose to Afghanistan. Second, the Sri Lankans enjoy the rivalry with Bangladesh.
After doing Bangladesh a big ‘benefit’ by defeating Afghanistan, Sri Lanka is once again appearing as a tough opponent in the next match. Of course, there is nothing surprising in professional sports. That is the beauty of the game. Sri Lanka’s batting coach Thilina Kandambi was asked about the one-day friend who has now become an enemy in the pre-match press conference. In response to this question, the Sri Lankan batting coach said, “We are talking about cricket. They are a very good team. They have played very well in the last two months. We know them well. We have an idea of Bangladesh’s strengths and weaknesses. We are trying to utilize that opportunity.”
In the 2018 Nidahas Trophy, Bangladesh reached the final by making Sri Lanka ‘spectators’. And since that series, the duel between the two teams has been called the Nagin Derby or Nagin Classico. Shakib Al Hasan’s controversial timed out in the 2023 World Cup in Delhi; then the opportunity to play in the Champions Trophy by making the Sri Lankans spectators. By defeating Sri Lanka, Bangladesh’s path to the Super Eights was paved in the last T20 World Cup. Bangladesh had won the T20 series in the Sri Lankan field a few days ago.
Not only happy memories, Sri Lanka also caused Bangladesh no less pain. The Sri Lankans had arranged to knock Bangladesh out of the group stage in the 2022 Asia Cup in Dubai. This time, Bangladesh lost badly to the Sri Lankans in Abu Dhabi in the group stage of the Asia Cup. Bangladesh is eager to defeat Sri Lanka again in Dubai today to pave the way for the final.
Bangladesh watched Afghanistan’s match against Sri Lanka the day before yesterday sitting in the hotel. The team’s pace bowling coach Sean Tait was talking about that experience at the press conference yesterday, ‘We watched the game in the hotel. I watched the last part of the match. I was checking the score before dinner. It was a nerve-wracking moment for us. We got a touch of luck in the end.’
Although Sri Lanka’s batting coach Kandambi did not give a direct answer to the strategy by which Sri Lanka is advancing against Bangladesh, he hopes that this time the ‘Nagin Derby’ will be lively. He said, ‘Of course it will be the same (planning for each match). Because, we play against Bangladesh often. In the last three-four months, we have played four to five matches against them (Bangladesh). Hopefully, the match against them will be great.’
Bangladesh’s pace bowling coach Tait also said almost the same thing about the match against Sri Lanka, ‘We have played a lot with Sri Lanka recently. Both teams know each other. In the last match, they played better than us. But we are focusing on our own work. Sri Lanka is also thinking the same way.’
That is right, Sri Lanka will play today’s match in the Super Four as a bit of a favorite. Since they won three out of three matches in the group stage and reached the last four. However, when the game is played in slow and whirlwind conditions in Dubai, today’s match cannot be compared much with the previous match in Abu Dhabi. Bangladesh suffered from the lack of a specialist bowler against Afghanistan. Five recognized bowlers, or will Sheikh Mehedi Hasan be left out of the XI today to make room for Nurul Hasan Sohan? Yesterday, Tait avoided answering the question. However, given the conditions in Dubai, it is more logical to keep Sheikh Mehedi.
