The Sri Lankan national cricket team arrived in Dhaka Sunday noon. The island nation will take part in a two-match Test series against hosts Bangladesh. The first Test of the series will be played in Chattogram from May 15 while the second and final Test of the series will take place in Dhaka from May 23.  This series is a part of the ICC Test Championship. Sri Lanka are currently at the fifth place in the points table of this contest while Bangladesh are at eighth. In the previous series against South Africa, Bangladesh lost both the matches.  READ: Sri Lanka cricket team arrives in Dhaka Sunday Sri Lanka have also endured the same fate against India earlier this year in India. Both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have announced their respective squads for this series.  Bangladesh team is scheduled to leave Dhaka this evening for Chattogram. They will have a practice camp in the port city of Chattogram ahead of the first Test at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.  While Bangladesh team will be busy practicing in Chattogram, Sri Lanka will play a two-day practice match on May 10 and 11 in BKSP. They will travel to Chattogram after the practice match. 

It was only the fifth T20I for the left-arm spinner Nasum Ahmed, a left-arm orthodox spinner in the classical mode - the kind increasingly rare in the shortest version of cricket. But using his guile and venom to perfection, he proved that he has the ability to win games for the Tigers - even in a 4-over spell.   Nasum bagged four wickets conceding 19 runs in four overs— his career-best—  against Australia in the first match of the five-match T20I series and guided the team to their maiden win against Australia in the format.  The left-arm spinner conceded a seven off his second ball of the match. Right after that, Shakib Al Hasan came to him and counseled him, from all his experience. READ: Tigers create history winning first T20I v mighty Australia “When we started to defend a moderate total of 131 runs, we wanted to contain the runs,” Nasum said in a video message after the match. “Shakib and Mahmudullah guided me well. I tried to contain the runs and follow their instructions which eventually helped me a lot.” Before this match, Bangladesh played a total of four T20Is against Australia and lost all of them. After the first innings of this match, only a few had the belief that Bangladesh could defend a total of 131 runs against a team like Australia. But Nasum said the Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah Riyad said they still have a good chance if they can bowl well.  “At the start of Australia’s innings, Mahmudullah told us that 131 can be a good total if we bowl according to a good plan. So we have tried to follow the team plan. We wanted not to concede many runs,” Nasum added.  Australia won the toss and sent Bangladesh in to bat first. The hosts ended up scoring 131 for seven in 20 overs, with Shakib scoring the highest— 36 off 33 balls.  In reply, Australia lost three wickets in the first three overs, and all were taken by the spinners. Bangladeshi spinners bowled 13 overs in this match and bagged six wickets conceding 71 runs.  Mitchell Marsh scored 45 off 45 balls with four fours and one six, and he was the highest run-getter for the visitors.  “I thought the bowlers did a terrific job to restrict them to 130. But having lost 3 for 10, I and Marsh tried to resurrect the innings but unfortunately, we couldn't do that. We have to find ways to score runs on such pitches,” Matthew Wade, the stand-in captain of Australia, told the broadcaster after the match.  READ: Bangladesh post 131 in first T20I vs Australia While it was most certainly the spinners who rattled Australia's inexperienced batting line-up, Mustafizur Rahman was in fine rhythm as well, ending up with 2/16 off his 4 overs, the most economical of the Tigers' bowlers.  While the batting exposed some chinks, today's win rode on one of the finest all-round performances by Bangladesh on the field - all the bowlers did their job, and hardly any fielding error comes to mind. The outfielders held some good catches, while Mustafizur, the tall fast bowler, outdid himself with the catch to get rid of opposition captain Wade.  All in all, it was an inspired performance from Bangladesh, carrying on in the vein of form they found in Zimbabwe. READ: Australia opt to bowl in first T20I It has the hosts excited now about the prospect of a first bilateral series win over Australia, across any of the three versions of the game.  Who can blame them?  

Speculation is rife that Bangladesh all-rounder Mahmudullah Riyad may soon bring curtains down on his illustrious Test career. No wonder the 35-year-old is at the wrong side of his age, but he still appears fit, given the fact that he smashed an unbeaten 150 -- his fifth Test ton and highest in this format of the game -- in the ongoing Harare match. However, both Mahmudllah and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) are tight-lipped on the T20 skipper's retirement plan. Read Mahmudullah says “dramatic” goodbye to Test cricket, given guard of honour Mahmudullah was out of the Test setup for more than 17 months after last seen in the Rawalpindi Test in 2020. It was his second omission from the Test side in the past four years. He was also out of Bangladesh’s 100th Test in Sri Lanka.  The speculation seemed to have erupted from the T20 skipper's emotional outburst following his superb performance in the Harare Test.  Sources close to the all-rounder told UNB that he's determined not to prolong his Test career and might announce his retirement at the end of the Harare match. READ: Five-for in overseas Test will boost my confidence: Mehidy  The digital news outlet has learnt that Mahmudullah had announced his decision to the teammates before the game on Day 3 of the Test in Harare. But surprisingly, he kept mum in the post-day video message sent to the media by the Board.

Bangladesh national cricket team is set to fly for Zimbabwe early Tuesday for one Test, three ODIs, and as many T20Is. The series will start on July 7 with the Test; all matches will take place at Harare Sports Club. The Tigers will board a Qatar Airways flight at 4:25am. The players have just finished the month-long Banglabandhu Dhaka Premier Division T20 Cricket League. First, 18 members of the Bangladesh Test squad will go to Zimbabwe. The players who will play ODIs and T20Is will leave Dhaka on July 9 and the ones who will only play T20Is will leave Dhaka on July 16. Shakib Al Hasan, who will represent Bangladesh in every format in the series, will leave for Zimbabwe from the US. Bangladesh team will not have to undergo any special quarantine after arriving in Zimbabwe. They will be allowed to join practice session immediately. For this series, Bangladesh selectors brought Nurul Hasan Sohan back to all three formats of the game after a gap of three years; Shamim Hossain is a new face in the T20Is. Bangladesh's T20I captain Mahmudullah Riyad has also been added to the Test squad. READ: Khaled Mahmud doubtful about his position at BCB  Bangladesh team members went through a Covid-19 test and returned negative before their journey, Monjur Hossain Chowdhury, a Bangladesh Cricket Board physician, told UNB. Bangladesh Test squad Muminul Haque (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Shdman Islam, Saif Hassan, Nazmul Hossain Shanto, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib Al Hasan, Liton Das, Mahmudullah Riyad, Yasir Ali, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Mehedy Hasan Miraz, Taizul Islam, Nayeem Hasan, Abu Jayed Rahi, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain and Shoriful Islam READ: BAN vs ZIM: Five Most Memorable Matches Between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe In: Shakib Al Hasan, Nurul Hasan Sohan and Naeem Hasan, Mahmudullah Riyad Out: Mohammad Mithun

After a bat-dominated first day, Bangladesh Friday staged a comeback in the competition, with bowlers Taskin Ahmed and Taijul Islam picking up three wickets in the first session of the second day of the final Test in Kandy. While right-arm pacer Taskin struck twice to remove Lahiru Thirimanne and Angelo Mathews, Taijul bagged the wicket of Dhananjaya de Silva. On Thursday, Bangladesh gave away 291 runs for just one wicket after losing the toss and sent to bowl first at Pallekelle International Cricket Stadium. Also read: Kandy Test Day 1: Karunaratne, Thirimanne's centuries propel Sri Lanka to 291/1 Bangladesh were wicketless in the first hour of day two. But it was a short delivery from Taskin which worked well for him. Thirimanne was uncomfortable and the ball touched his gloves before reaching the keeper safely. Thirimanne partnered with Dimuth Karunarate in the opening stand to put up 209 runs.  Two balls after scalping Thirimanne, Taskin could have sent Angelo Mathews back to the dressing room if he heard the sound of a clear neck. Wicketkeeper Liton Das also failed to hear the sound and thus they didn’t go for a review. But the TV replays showed a clear neck. Taskin eventually removed Mathews as Liton took an easy catch.  Bangladesh grabbed the third wicket of the session when Taijul removed Dhananjaya for two. Najmul Hossain Shanto took the catch in second chance after the Liton fumble. Before the wicket-taking delivery, Taijul showed some glimpses of turn and bounce on the wicket.  At the lunch break of day two, Sri Lanka were batting at 334 for four. In the first session of day two, the hosts added only 43 runs in 26 overs to their overnight total. Bangladesh conceded less than two runs per over in this session. 

Pakistani cricketers will get visas to play in the upcoming T20 World Cup in India next October. Jay Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, on Friday informed the Apex Council about the government's decision on giving visas to the Pakistan players, reports PTI. Shah spoke to the council in a video conference meeting, where it was also decided that the mega-event – which will complete seven editions this year – will be staged across nine venues. Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium will host the final; the other venues are Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Dharamsala and Lucknow. Also read: Former skipper Faruque's mother dies with Covid-19 symptoms "The visa issue of the Pakistan cricket team has been sorted. However, whether the fans can travel across the border to watch matches is still not clear," a council member told PTI. "It will be decided in due course of time. However, we had promised ICC that it would be sorted. The secretary announced during the meeting." India and Pakistan have not played bilateral cricket for almost a decade now due to diplomatic tensions between the two countries. Pakistan last toured India for a bilateral series in 2012.