Rana debuts as Bangladesh bowl; Kamindu in for Sri Lanka

Bangladesh won the toss and decided to put Sri Lanka in to bat in the first Test in Sylhet.

Najmul Hossain Shanto said he was hoping for early inroads as he felt the moisture in the wicket from rain earlier in the day might aid seam and swing bowling. This could particularly aid express pacer Nahid Rana,  who Shanto described as “really exciting” ahead of his international debut.

Lankan skipper Dhananjaya de Silva said that they would have liked to have bowled first too, as they had included three seamers in their lineup. This means the visitors are going in with just the one frontline spinner in Prabath Jayasuriya, though Dhananjaya can provide an off break option, while the inclusion of the ambidextrous allrounder Kamindu Mendis ahead of Sadeera Samarawickrama provides another part-time spin bowling avenue.

In terms of conditions, it was a wet morning in Sylhet but the sun has since shone through. There’s some grass on the pitch too, which means there will be movement early on for the seamers but the ball will come on to the bat as well. So good for batting on the first couple of days, but with some cracks in the surface the spinners could come into the game as the Test wears on.

Bangladesh XI: Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Zakir Hasan, Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), Mominul Haque, Shahadat Hossain, Litton Das (wk), Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Taijul Islam, Khaled Ahmed,  Nahid Rana, Shoriful Islam

Sri Lanka XI: Nishan Madushka, Dimuth Karunaratne, Kusal Mendis (wk), Angelo Mathews, Dinesh Chandimal, Dhananjaya de Silva (capt), Kamindu Mendis, Prabath Jayasuriya, Vishwa Fernando,  Kasun Rajitha,  Lahiru Kumara