Bangladesh are a formidable opponent at home, despite losing their latest away series against New Zealand in March. On the other side, Sri Lanka's ODI team also lost their last series against the Windies. So, both teams will be eying to return in winning momentum in this series and they will also treat each match equally as the series is part of the ICC ODI Super League. Bangladesh have a good chance of winning the ODI series against Sri Lanka at home for the first time. The BAN v SL 2021 ODI series preview will give you an idea of the strengths of the two teams.
Notable ODI record between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka
The Bangladesh-Sri Lanka One-Day International series will begin on May 23. The rest of the two matches will be played on May 25 and May 28 respectively. All the matches will take place at the Sher-e-Bangla Stadium, Mirpur. Here are some head-to-head notable bilateral ODI records between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Read: Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka series 2021: ODI Ranking Prediction
# Sri Lanka have won six out of eight bilateral series between the two teams.
# Bangladesh have yet to win an ODI series against Sri Lanka at home.
# Mushfiqur Rahim has scored the most (783) runs for Bangladesh, while Kumar Sangakkara (1,206) is topping the list of most runs.
# Mashrafe Mortaza has taken the most (26) wickets for Bangladesh, while Mutiah Muralitharan (31) is topping the list of most wickets.
# Mushfiqur Rahim made the highest individual score (144) for Bangladesh, while Tillakaratne Dilshan played the highest individual innings (161*) for Sri Lanka.
# Abdur Razzak has the best bowling figures for Bangladesh (5/72), while Chaminda Vaas has the best bowling figures for Sri Lanka (6/25).
Bangladesh’s Preliminary Squad for the bilateral ODI Series 2021
BCB announced a 23-man preliminary ODI squad for the series. Fast bowlers have done well in recent series, that’s why the selectors have included seven pacers in Bangladesh’s limited over squad.
The selectors also have picked three genuine spinners and a notable number of all-rounders for the series against the Lankans.
World’s best all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and cutter-master Mustafizur Rahman have returned to the Bangladesh squad. They both missed out to play the Sri Lanka Test series due to their commitment to IPL 2021. Besides, most of the expected names have been included in this squad.
Captain Tamim Iqbal, as well as three other senior members of the team, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mahmudullah Riyad, and Shakib Al Hasan, are all available for the series and will be charged with marshaling the troops against a revamped Lankan ODI side.
Read: Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka ODI series 2021: Expected personal milestones to Reach
The players who can make a difference
Tamim Iqbal: ODIs: 213 | Runs: 7,452 | HS: 158 | SR: 78.36
Shakib Al Hasan: ODIs: 209 | Runs: 6,436 | HS: 134 | SR: 82.35 | Wkts: 266 | BBI: 5/29 | Econ: 4.45
Mustafizur Rahman: ODIs: 64 | Wkts: 118 | BBI: 6/43 | Econ: 5.25
Preliminary Squad:Tamim Iqbal, Mohammad Naim, ImrulKayes, Liton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Mithun, Mahmudullah, Afif Hossain, Mosaddek Hossain, MahediHasan, MehidyHasanMiraz, Taijul Islam, Nasum Ahmed, Mohammad Saifuddin, Mustafizur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Shoriful Islam, Shohidul Islam.
Sri Lanka’s Squad for the bilateral ODI Series 2021
On Wednesday (May 12), Sri Lanka Cricket named an 18-man squad for the forthcoming three-match One-Day International series against Bangladesh. The SLC announced in a press release that KusalPerera will act as captain for the series and the team would leave for Bangladesh on May 16.
KusalPerera, who has represented Sri Lanka for more than a hundred ODIs, succeeds DimuthKarunaratne as captain. While KusalMendis has been appointed as the new vice-captain for the Lankan ODI side.
Former Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews, as well as Karunaratne, LahiruThirimanne, and wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal were all dropped for the series.
Read Bangladesh's Predicted XI: If ODI and Test Teams Played on the Same Day
The players who can make a difference
KusalPerera: ODIs: 101 | Runs: 2,825 | HS: 135 | SR: 92.62
KusalMendis: ODIs: 76 | Runs: 2,167 | HS: 119 | SR: 84.68
AkilaDananjaya: ODIs: 36 | Wkts: 51 | BBI: 6/29 | Econ: 5.1
Squad: KusalPerera (C), KusalMendis (VC), DanushkaGunathilaka, Dhananjaya De Silva, PathumNissanka, DasunShanaka, Ashen Bandara, WaninduHasaranga, IsuruUdana, AkilaDananjaya, NiroshanDickwella, DushmanthaChameera, Ramesh Mendis, Asitha Fernando, Lakshan Sandakan, ChamikaKarunaratne, Binura Fernando, Shiran Fernando.
Verdict
Both teams will be looking to put on a strong performance given that this three-match series is part of the ICC's ODI Super League and each match has valuable 10 points. The ODI series preview shows that Sri Lanka are well ahead of Bangladesh in terms of the overall ODI record between these two teams. But the current Bangladesh squad is stronger than Sri Lanka. Therefore Bangladesh will begin the series as a favorite. So, we can anticipate a highly competitive series between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
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