Sri Lanka completed a 2-0 series win over Bangladesh on Wednesday, April 3, when they won the Chattogram Test by 192 runs. The result of the series was not as certain as it seems in retrospect.
Bangladesh has been a troublesome team for Sri Lanka in the recent years and even has a win on the latter’s home soil. The home side also have a more than decent record playing at home, so they would have gone into the two-Test series with optimism.
Bangladesh found lacking against Sri Lanka
However, right from Day 1, things didn’t go Bangladesh’s way. A dropped catch of Kamindu Mendis on the very first ball he faced in the series set up the hosts’ misery. The gamble of preparing a green track in the first Test also proved counter-productive.
The second Test also went the same way as the first. Once again, the Bangladeshi team proved unable to cope with the all-round prowess of Sri Lanka.
As the dust settles on this series, let us look at the five takeaways from this two-Test contest.
Bangladesh continue to struggle with their batting
In three out of the four innings in this series, the home team failed to reach 200. This is a problem that had already assumed serious proportions coming into this contest. The absence of Mushfiqur Rahim further exacerbated Bangladesh’s woes.
So, what’s the solution? The return of Shakib Al Hasan didn’t bring immediate rewards in the second Test. But it’s going to help the team in the long run. When Mushfiqur comes back, that would be a further boost. But more is expected of captain Najmul Hussain Shanto, Mominul Haque, and Litton Das. These three collectively would be under scrutiny.
So will be the openers. Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Zakir Hasan didn’t quite set the stage on fire. To be fair, the first Test was a difficult one as the pitch was very helpful for seamers. But over time, if they don’t stack up good partnerships, Bangladesh’s batting woes will persist.
Sri Lanka’s pace attack promises a lot
The biggest uptick for the Sri Lankan team in this series was the performance of their pacers. While the first Test was played on a green top, the second Test had a more conventional Asian pitch. Yet, the Lankan pacers impressed in both games.
Lahiru Kumara reminded everyone of his abilities as a pacer. He has been around for a long time and has come up with impressive efforts in the past also. Kasun Rajitha impressed the most in the first Test. His ability to move the ball is very useful.
The two Fernandos – Asitha and Vishwa – also shone in the series, giving some depth to Sri Lanka’s pace bowling resources.
While Bangladesh’s batting didn’t pose too much of a challenge, Sri Lanka do seem to have some quality in their pace bowling line-up.
Disappointing outing for Prabath Jayasuriya
After Muttiah Muralitharan retired in 2010, it didn’t take long for Rangana Herath to emerge as a consistent and reliable spinner. However, following Herath’s retirement in 2018, Sri Lanka are yet to find a decent replacement.
Lasith Embuldeniya seemed to be that player for some time. However, his form tapered away. Then, Prabath Jayasuriya arrived and started picking up wickets by the bucketload. But his efforts in this series have put a question mark against his abilities.
71 wickets in 12 Tests is still a great record. But his inability to make a mark in this series is not a good sign. The two Tests were played on relatively seamer-friendly wickets. A good effort here would have shown that Jayasuriya isn’t completely dependent on the conditions. But he couldn’t quite achieve that.
Also, at 32 years of age, he isn’t a spring chicken. The Sri Lankan selectors must be looking for younger players who can develop and stay around for a long time. Prabath Jayasuriya might not fit the bill.
Dhananjaya de Silva establishes himself as Sri Lanka’s lynchpin
Now leading the side, Dhananjaya de Silva had the sort of series which would raise his profile as a batsman. He has been around for a decent amount of time and slowly has established himself as a key member of the middle order.
This was a series where he proved that he may have surpassed his predecessor Dimuth Karunaratne as the most important batsman in the line-up. While Karunaratne didn’t have a bad series himself, with two half-centuries in four innings, de Silva’s first-innings hundred on a green top in the first Test was quite impressive.
Since the golden days of Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, etc., Sri Lanka haven’t always had a great batting line-up. Angelo Matthews and Dinesh Chandimal carried the load of the batting line-up in early years before Kushal Mendis and Dimuth Karunaratne arrived to help them out. Now, it’s de Silva’s turn to lead the pack.
Nahid Rana might be someone to keep an eye on
This series also witnessed the debut of Nahid Rana. He had a tough time in the first Test and had figures of 3/87 and 2/128 in the two innings. More importantly, he went for over six-an-over in both spells. However, there is a lot to work when it comes to the 21-year-old.
Tall and able to bowl at over 140 kph, he can be moulded into a dangerous bowler for the future. Though he didn’t play the second Test, its worth following his progress. Bangladesh are yet to find their first genuinely quick pacers. Could Rana be the answer?