Bangladesh vs Sri Lanka - Asia's spiciest rivalry resumes

Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have got a bit of history between them.

The contest, though, turned into a rivalry not very long ago. Back in the days when they were a powerhouse, Sri Lanka used to literally bully Bangladesh. Many can still remember how Marvan Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene voluntarily walked off in a Test match to allow their teammates to feast on an inept Bangladesh bowling attack. For a very long time, a match against Bangladesh meant a big chance for out-of-form Sri Lanka players to return to form.

It was in the early and mid-2010s when Bangladesh started to find their feet, having defeated Sri Lanka twice in Asia Cups - in 2012 and 2016. But it was still Sri Lanka who had an overwhelming edge, until the 2018 Nidahas Trophy, the most closely-contested tournament Bangladesh have ever been part of, happened.

Bangladesh stunned Sri Lanka in the teams' first meeting in the tournament by chasing an almost unthinkable 215. Who can forget Mushfiqur Rahim's famous 'Naagin dance' - much to the irritation of Sri Lanka fans on the ground - after pulling off the chase? Quite possibly, that was the very moment that triggered the onset of a fierce rivalry. 

Their next meeting in the tournament was dubbed as a virtual semifinal and it was, of course, full of drama. Bangladesh were denied a wide in a crucial juncture of the match and an angry Shakib Al Hasan threatened to call his team back, probably inspired by Sri Lanka's very own Arjuna Ranatunga. A fired-up Nurul Hasan was seen shouting at Sri Lanka's Thisara Perera and his veins were popping out. Thankfully, coach Khaled Mahmud made Shakib calm down a bit and the rest was history. Mahmudullah's one of the best - if not the best - innings helped Tigers knock the hosts out of the tournament. 

Since then, whenever the two sides met, there were always moments that suggested the high intensity of the rivalry. An ugly face-off between Lahiru Kumara and Litton Das in the 2021 T20I World Cup is another example. 

Four and a half years have passed since the Nidahas Trophy and neither Bangladesh nor Sri Lanka have been in good form in T20Is. Both of them lost to Afghanistan in their first matches in the ongoing Asia Cup which turned the contest between them into a virtual knockout. 

And ahead of this match, shots have already been fired from both sides as captains, ex- captains have engaged in a war of words. After suffering a crushing loss against Afghanistan, Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka termed Bangladesh an 'easier opponent' than Afghanistan, saying that they don't have world-class bowlers barring Shakib Al Hasan and Mustafizur Rahman.

Shanaka's remark saw Mahmud and Jayawardene, two characters already mentioned in the article, give their verdicts ahead of the game. Mahmud, now Bangladesh's team director, in reply to Shanaka said that Sri Lanka doesn't even have one world-class bowler. Jayawardene was quick to respond to his former opponent. "Looks like it's time for Sri Lanka bowlers to show the class and batters to show who they are on the field," he wrote on Twitter.

We are only a few hours away from knowing who'll land the knockout punch and make the Super Four of the Asia Cup but one thing is for sure - there will be no shortage of entertainment if the teams play as well as they talk.