Bangladesh will be hoping for a huge reversal of fortunes in a two-Test series against Sri Lanka which begins at the R. Premdasa Stadium here on Monday.
Bangladesh were blanked 3-0 in the one-dayers and thrashed by 10 wickets in a preceding one-day practice match before again struggling in a drawn three-day warm-up game ahead of the Tests.
Their problems have been further compounded by injuries to pacemen Mashrafe bin Mortaza and Tapash Baisya, both of whom were sent home on Friday.
Mortaza suffered a back injury while Baisya aggravated an ankle injury during the warm-up game in Colombo earlier this week.
Adding insult to injury, their leading wicket-taker in Tests, Mohammed Rafique, too has been fined after an altercation with coach Dav Whatmore following the one-day series.
"Nothing has gone right for us so far on the tour," Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar conceded on Saturday.
"We have had three or four players getting injured and that's disappointing. Tapash and Mashrafe are two of our main bowlers and it's a huge task to play such a strong batting line-up without experienced bowlers," he said.
Seamer Talha Jubair will join the squad in place of Morataza, but no replacement has yet been made for Baisya.
There's no likely respite for the tourists as the selectors have named a full-strength squad with former skipper Sanath Jayasuriya set to become the first Sri Lankan to play 100 Tests in the second game at P. Saravanamuttu Stadium.
SRI LANKA (from):
Marvan Atapattu (capt), Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Thilan Samaraweera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chaminda Vaas, Farveez Maharoof, Rangana Herath, Muttiah Muralitharan, Lasith Malinga, Russel Arnold, Gayan Wijekoon, Dilhara Fernando, Shantha Kalavithigoda.
BANGLADESH (from):
Habibul Bashar (capt), Javed Omer, Shahriar Nafees, Mohammad Ashraful, Aftab Ahmed, Manjural Islam, Khaled Mashud, Mohammed Rafique, Syed Rasel, Tushar Imran, Talah Jubair, Enamul Haque, Nafees Iqbal and Shahadat Hossain.
UMPIRES: Asad Rauf (PAK) and Steve Bucknor (WI)
TV UMPIRE: Peter Manuel (SRI)
MATCH REFEREE: Clive Lloyd (WI).
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