Serene Sylhet welcomes a spicy rivalry

The serene city of Sylhet is set to feel the heat and spice of the Bangladesh-Sri Lanka cricket rivalry as the first of three T20Is begins tomorrow. 

From the 'Naagin dance' by Bangladesh in the Nidahas Trophy to the timed-out dismissal of Angelo Mathews in their last encounter in the World Cup, one can certainly say that this is one of the spiciest rivalries in world cricket at the moment.

One would have felt that Bangladesh are the better prepared of the two teams due to their franchise T20 tournament the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) just ending days ago.

But in reality, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) announced the T20I squad much earlier and a lot of the performers in the BPL didn't make the cut while some simply opted out.

Players like Tanzid Hasan Tamim and Mohammad Saifuddin, who made a good impact for their respective franchises in the BPL didn't get selected.

On the other hand, the Player of the Tournament and top run-scorer of the BPL, Tamim Iqbal simply opted out of a BCB central contract and said a "lot of things will need to change" for him to make an international comeback. 

Shakib Al Hasan, who also had a very good BPL with bat and ball, opted out of the series due to his ongoing eye problem which is yet to be resolved.

That has left the hosts with a captain, Najmul Hossain Shanto, who had a torrid time with the bat in the BPL.

This will be his first series as the long-term captain at a ground where his last international assignment, a Test against New Zealand, was a big success as it was the first Test the Tigers ever won against the Kiwis on home soil. 

Ahead of the match, Shanto spoke to the media about the game and felt it would be better for him to plan things with the team now that he's the long-term captain.

"Firstly, it's a matter of great pride for me and my family that I'm being able to lead the team. I'm sure every cricketer dreams of one day leading the national team so I'd like to thank the BCB for giving me this opportunity."

"It will be easier for me to plan with the others now that I'm the long-term captain in all three formats. The job will be challenging but I hope we can do something good," he added.

The 25-year-old also spoke about needing to deliver with the bat and his numbers as captain are much better in international cricket. 

He averages over 36 with the bat in 12 innings, in all formats, which is an improvement from his average of 29 from 104 innings in all formats, when he isn't captain. 

"I have to score runs with the bat and that is my primary job in the team. As captain, I have to do a job when we are on the field and also off it, but scoring runs is the focus," he explained.

Bangladesh have been doing well under Shanto's captaincy as they won their first-ever ODI and T20I match against New Zealand in New Zealand.

Although the Tigers are not known to be a good T20I side, they have been getting good results with T20I series wins at home against England, Afghanistan and Ireland before this, under the captaincy of Shakib.

Sri Lanka head coach Chris Silverwood tried to focus on the T20 World Cup coming up later this year instead of the rivalry between the two teams.

"I expect this to be a very competitive series between two good sides. What happened in the past, for me, that's history, now it's gone. I think what we have to do is, certainly from our perspective, is concentrate on what's in front of us," he said. 

We're now in the buildup to what is an important competition, the T20I World Cup. I think all teams now are sort of finalising their sides, their squads give an experience, so ultimately that's what it is," he concluded.