Bangladesh expecting tough fight against Sri Lanka in ODI series

Bangladesh captain Tamim Iqbal urged his team to give the maximum as they bid to maintain their home dominance against Sri Lanka in the one-day series starting on Sunday.

Bangladesh have totted up a strong record at home, winning all but one of their 12 matches since October 2018, though all of the victories were struggling Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.

However, they lost 3-0 to Sri Lanka the last time they met in a one-day series, in Colombo in 2019.

“We have played with most of the Sri Lanka players. We know that they are a quality side,” Tamim told a virtual press conference on Friday, ahead of the three-match series.

“We won’t have anything easy, and we have to give more than 100 percent to win games against them.”

Bangladesh have welcomed Shakib Al Hasan back after the all-rounder missed their previous series against New Zealand for the birth of his third child.

Shakib was also absent from the Test tour of Sri Lanka in April as he was playing in the lucrative Indian Premier League.

Tamim confirmed the all-rounder would bat in his favourite number three slot after Bangladesh jettisoned batsman Najmul Hossain.

Shakib starred at one-down in World Cup 2019, scoring 606 runs, the third-highest in the tournament after Rohit Sharma’s 648 and David Warner’s 647. He also took 11 wickets.

The remaining two matches are on May 25 and May 28, also at Dhaka’s Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

Lanka cricketers reject pay cut after being held ‘at gunpoint’ by board: Lankan national players are refusing to sign new contracts that see their payments slashed by up to 40 percent, a lawyer representing them said on Friday.

The squad, who say they are being held “at gunpoint”, are particularly angry at the role played by former Australia star Tom Moody who is part of a national board panel that proposed the new contracts.

While no threat of a strike has been made, former captain Angelo Mathews and Test captain Dimuth Karunaratne -- who suffered the biggest cuts -- were dropped from a tour of Bangladesh.

Mathews’ annual fee fell from $130,000 a year to $80,000 while Karunaratne was offered $70,000, a drop of $30,000.

Minus the two star players and with the showdown growing, the team are in Bangladesh preparing for three one-day internationals starting Sunday.

“The players are not in agreement to sign unfair and non-transparent contracts and urge Sri Lanka cricket to not hold the players at gunpoint,” said lawyer Nishan Premathiratne on behalf of 24 national players.

He said in a statement that the players hoped to resolve the spat with board president Shammi Silva who was re-elected for a second two-year term on Thursday. A national player told AFP that the board had violated confidentiality by publicly disclosing the squad’s proposed salaries.

Agence France-Presse