Toss Bangladesh chose to bowl vs Sri Lanka
Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto decided to bowl first in the first T20I against Sri Lanka in Sylhet. Although Shanto has already led Bangladesh in three T20Is, he was only recently handed the full-time captaincy across formats and this was his first game in charge since then.
Bangladesh opted for a three-man pace attack including the in-form Shoriful Islam, who came off a strong BPL performance. Mustafizur Rahman also made the cut after recovering from a blow to the head recently. Legspinner Rishad Hossain got a game, too, and will share the spin-bowling duty with Mahedi Hasan and Mahmudullah – the latter is playing his first T20I since September 2022.
Sri Lanka have named a balanced side too, including the two Mendises, Kusal and Kamindu, and captain Charith Asalanka. They are, however, without their regular captain Wanindu Hasaranga – suspended for two T20Is for an outburst against umpires – Pathum Nissanka and Kusal Perera.
This is the first time that Sri Lanka will play a T20I in Sylhet.
Bangladesh: 1 Litton Das (wk), 2 Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), 3 Soumya Sarkar, 4 Towhid Hridoy, 5 Mahmudullah, 6 Mahedi Hasan, 7 Jaker Ali, 8 Taskin Ahmed, 9 Rishad Hossain, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Shoriful Islam
Sri Lanka: 1 Avishka Fernando, 2 Kusal Mendis (wk), 3 Kamindu Mendis, 4 Sadeera Samarawickrama, 5 Charith Asalanka (capt), 6 Angelo Mathews, 7 Dasun Shanaka, 8 Maheesh Theekshana, 9 Akila Dananjaya, 10 Binura Fernando, 11 Matheesha Pathirana
