Bangladesh Test team will play a 2-match series against Sri Lanka starting from April 21. This will be Bangladesh's last series in the ICC Test Championships.So Bangladesh will get another chance to open their account in the Test Championship points table.BCB already announced a 21-man preliminary squad for the contest. As expected Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman will miss the series due to their engagement in the IPL. Shuvagata Hom Chowdhury returned to the Bangladesh squad after a five-year break. Selectors also picked three uncapped players for the squad. Let’s analyze Bangladesh’s Test squad for Sri Lanka series. 

Bangladesh’s Preliminary Test Squad for Sri Lanka Series 2021

BCB announced an initial squad on Friday (April 9) and the Bangladesh team will most likely be limited to 15 members just before their departure to Sri Lanka. The selectors have included seven fast bowlers and four spinners in Bangladesh Test Squad.

Left-arm pacer Shoriful Islam, right-arm fast bowlers Shohidul Islam and Mukidul Islam have earned a maiden call up for the national side. While In place of Shakib Al Hasan, selectors included Shuvagata Hom Chowdhury who returned to the Bangladesh squad after five years break. Shuvagata last played for Bangladesh against England back in 2016.

Mominul Haque will be captaining the side. The veteran Mahmudullah Riyad has been ignored once again, but Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim will be available for the series. These two senior cricketers will have to play with more responsibility if Bangladesh is to win the series against Sri Lanka.

Series fixture:

1st Test: Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh | Date: 21-25 April | Venue: Pallekele International Cricket Stadium

2nd Test: Sri Lanka vs Bangladesh | Date: 29 April-03 May| Venue: Pallekele International Cricket Stadium

Preliminary Squad:Mominul Haque (Captain), Liton Das, Mohammad Mithun, Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal, Shadman Islam, Abu Jayed, Taijul Islam, Najmul Hossain Shanto, MehidyHasanMiraz, NayeemHasan, Taskin Ahmed, Ebadat Hossain, Saif Hassan, Yasir Ali, Shoriful Islam, Khaled Ahmed, Mukidul Islam, ShuvagataHom, Shohidul Islam, Nurul Hasan

Bangladesh tour of Sri Lanka: Bangladesh squad 2017 vs Bangladesh squad 2021

When comparing the two squads, we see that the 2017 team had a bit more experience than the current one.

Mushfiqur Rahim captained Bangladesh in 2017 and his team managed to draw the Test series after winning the second match by 4 wickets in Colombo.

Also read: Still nothing definite on Sri Lanka tour

For this time, skipper Mominul Haque and team management have to chalk out an ideal game plan in order to win the series against the home side.

In 2017, the top-order batting line-up included Tamim Iqbal, Imrul Kayes, and Soumya Sarkar.Among them, Tamim Iqbal was the top scorer with 207 runs to his name. He also played a match-winning 82-run knock in the second Test to level the series 1-1. Tamim’s opening partner Soumya made second-most 195 runs for Bangladesh.

Shadman Islam will take the opening spot in place of Soumya Sarkar, who was not picked for this series.While Mominul will come at no.3 position for the team tigers.

In the middle order, Mohammad Mithun will replace Shakib Al Hasan and wicket-keeper batsman Liton Das will bat at no.6 position.

Considering Sri Lanka's spin-friendly wicket, Bangladesh could deploy three spinners in their playing XI.Because Bangladesh found success in the 2017 series by using three spinners.

Also read: Tigers' SL tour facing postponement over BCB's unreasonable demand

Overall, Bangladesh's 2021 Test squad contains some young promising players and match-winners as well. Therefore, this Bangladeshi team is more than capable of beating Sri Lanka in their own backyard.That being said, we should admit that the 2017 squad was better than this one.

The probable Bangladesh XI for the first Test

Tamim Iqbal, Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque (Captain), Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Mithun, Liton Das,MehidyHasanMiraz,NayeemHasan, Taijul Islam,Abu Jayed,Ebadat Hossain

Verdict

Bangladesh's possibility of winning the Test series against Sri Lanka is not guaranteed. However, an analysis of Bangladesh's Test squad for Sri Lanka series reveals that defeating the Lankans is not impossible if they can quickly adapt to the changing environment. Since, like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka aren’t in great form when it comes to Test cricket. Sri Lanka have just won one of their last eleven Test matches. On the other hand, Bangladesh have lost eight out of nine Tests in the last two years. As a result, both teams are under a lot of pressure to perform well in the Test format. In this aspect, the upcoming bilateral series between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will be quite exciting to watch.