Toss Bangladesh opt to bat vs Sri Lanka
Bangladesh have won the toss and chosen to bat first in Dhaka, as both sides made two changes apiece to the XIs that started the first Test in Chattogram.
The hosts have brought in Mosaddek Hossain for the injured Nayeem Hasan, who took six wickets in the first innings in Chattogram, before picking up a finger injury later in the match. Although Mosaddek is an offspinner like Nayeem, he is not exactly a like-for-like replacement – Mosaddek’s primary strength is his batting, where Nayeem is very much a bowler first.
Elsewhere on the bowling front, seamer Ebadot Hossain comes in for Shoriful Islam, who fractured his hand in Chattogram. Between Ebadot and Khaled Ahmed, Bangladesh have two right-arm seamers in the XI.
The surprise selection for Sri Lanka, however, is the omission of left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya in favour of the younger Praveen Jayawickrama. Embuldeniya had claimed only one wicket in Chattogram, but had been considered Sri Lanka’s first-choice spin option over the past two years. Jayawickrama, however, had claimed 11 wickets on debut in a win against Bangladesh last year, and his wicket-to-wicket style has been preferred here. He joins a spin contingent consisting of Ramesh Mendis (offspinner), and Dhananjaya de Silva (part-time offspin).
Sri Lanka have also opted to stick with two seam bowlers. Although Kasun Rajitha had not begun the first Test, he came in as a concussion substituted for Vishwa Fernando, and was the pick of Sri Lanka’s bowlers, claiming four wickets in the first innings. He joins fellow right-arm seamer Asitha Fernando.
Bangladesh: 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Mahmudul Hasan Joy, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 4 Mominul Haque(capt.), 5 Mushfiqur Rahim, 6 Litton Das (wk), 7 Shakib Al Hasan, 8 Mosaddek Hossain, 9 Taijul Islam, 10 Khaled Ahmed, 11 Ebadot Hossain
Sri Lanka: 1 Oshada Fernando, 2 Dimuth Karunaratne (capt.), 3 Kusal Mendis, 4 Angelo Mathews, 5 Dhananjaya de Silva, 6 Dinesh Chandimal, 7 Niroshan Dickwella (wk), 8 Ramesh Mendis, 9 Praveen Jayawickrama, 10 Asitha Fernando, 11 Kasun Rajitha
This article was originally published by Espncricinfo.com. Read the original article here.