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Published By: Sports Desk
Last Updated: March 30, 2024, 12:01 AM IST
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Bangladesh will begin the second Test and final against Sri Lanka on Saturday with returning star Shakib Al Hasan after the hosts were bowled out by 328 runs in their opener.
CHATTOGRAM, Bangladesh: Bangladesh will begin the second and final Test against Sri Lanka on Saturday buoyed by the return of star batsman Shakib Al Hasan, after defeating the hosts by 328 runs in their opener.
“I think any team that has Shakib in it is very lucky,” Bangladesh assistant coach Nic Pothas said on Friday. “His energy is very contagious. He has a lot of experience for the boys to learn from and, whenever Shakib is back, he is a giver.”
Shakib has been out of the national team since November at the Cricket World Cup in India. The captain hit 82 and took two wickets to beat Sri Lanka. But he broke his left index finger, and a vision problem was revealed.
He has been playing for the last two months in Bangladesh and Dhaka Premier League with success. Shakib’s last test was in April 2023 against Ireland in Mirpur.
Batsman Towhid Hridoy has been dropped to accommodate Shakib.
“He’s happy and that’s the only place we want Shakib. We want him to be happy,” Pothas said. “He will adapt to the conditions. That’s why it’s world class.”
The last of Shakib’s five test centuries came in 2017 against Sri Lanka in what was Bangladesh’s 100th test. Bangladesh won that match in what remains the side’s only Test win against Sri Lanka in 25 meetings.
Bangladesh have never won a test against Sri Lanka at home in 11 attempts.
Pothas will be in charge of the team in the final test in the absence of head coach Chandika Hathurusingha.
Dhananjaya de Silva became the first Sri Lankan captain to hit centuries in both test innings during the opener against Bangladesh, who failed to reach 200 in both his innings. He was unfazed by Shakib’s return, saying: “What I understand is that they will come hard but we will come hard too.”
De Silva made his focus clear.
“Why should I talk about him (Shakib)? He’s not in my team.”
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AP Cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – Associated Press)
