The two-match test series between touring Bangladesh and hosts Sri Lanka begins on Wednesday (Apr 21) at the Pallakelle International Cricket Stadium in the Lankan tourist town of Kandy.

The match will start at 10:30 am (Bangladesh time) in a crowd less stadium. Gazi TV and T- Sports of  Bangladesh will telecast the match live along side other international channels.

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The ensuing two-match test series is also a part of the World Test Championship. The 2nd and last match of the series will be held on April 29 to May 3 at the same venue. Bangladesh played  five matches of this event but failed to win any of them.

The upcoming series will be marked as the Bangladesh’s first Test series abroad during the pandemic.

Bangladesh, ranked 9th in the Test, are coming off a embarrassing 2-0 test defeat at home against West Indies recently while Sri Lanka, now ranked 7th in the test, have not won a match against the top nine opposition teams since August 2019.

Bangladesh's Test record is such that it is considered inevitable they will not threaten on foreign soil. They have won only one away test in the last five years and since that one win, which came in Sri Lanka in 2017, they have lost each of their nine Tests on the road, all by huge margins.

Bangladesh played a total of 12 Tests in Sri Lanka and won one of them, which was Bangladesh’s 100th test and they lost 10 matches with ending up one in a draw.

Bangladesh’s Test captain Mominul Haque has earlier said that that they have the ability to win this series although they will miss the services of two vital players --world famed all rounder Shakib Al Hassan and left arm pacer Mustafizur Rahman, both are now busy in playing Indian Premier league (IPL).

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Meanwhile, a 15-member test squad of Bangladesh for the first test of the two match series announced on Wednesday after the team's first practice session in the Lankan tourist town of Kandy.

Earlier, a 21-member Bangladesh preliminary test squad reached Colombo last Monday (Apr 12) to play a two-match test series against the Island nation.

However, the cricketers, who are not excluded from the final squad, will stay with the team in Sri Lanka, but will not get entrance to the test match or venue.

Old guy Shuvagata Hom, who was made a surprise comeback to the Test set-up after a gap of four years, was included in the team.

After reaching the Sri Lanka, Bangladesh team transferred to Negombo for a three-day room quarantine during Apr 12-14 and made individual practice session for two days there.

Later, Bangladesh preliminary squad in Sri Lanka played an intra-squad two-day practice match on April 17-18 in Katunayake under the banner of Tamim Iqbal 's  Red team and captain Mominul Haque 's Green team.

On completion of the  practice match on Sunday, Touring Bangladesh team reached test venue Kandy Monday afternoon.

Of the 21 member preliminary squad, two uncapped pace-bowlers --Shohidul Islam and Mukidul Islam Mugdho were ignored in the final squad alongside pacer Syed Khaled Ahmed, off spinner Nayeem Hasan,  Nurul Hassan and Shuvagata Hom.

Final squad of Bangladesh for the first test are:

Mominul Haque (Captain), Litton Kumer Das, Md Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal Khan, Shadman Islam, Abu Jayed Chowdhury Rahi, Taijul Islam, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Mehidy Hassan Miraz, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain Chowdhury, Mohammed Saif Hassan, Yasir Ali Chowdhury and Shoriful Islam.