Sri Lanka, Bangladesh rue absence of senior players

Shakib Al Hasan

Both, Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka and his Bangladesh counterpart Shakib Al Hasan, rued the absence of key players on the eve of their Asia Cup clash here on Thursday.

Six-time champions Sri Lanka will be without four main players in Wanindu Hasaranga, Dushmantha Chameera, Lahiru Kumara and Dilshan Madhushanka. "We can't have control over injuries. The players who unfortunately missed out - Hasaranga, Chameera - they are big players, experienced players. But we have a young side and this will be a good experience for them and we are looking forward to the tournament," said Shanaka at the pre-match press meet.

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Bangladesh will be without veterans like Liton Das, Tamim Iqbal and Ebadot Hosain, all ruled out due to different reasons. While Das could not recover in time from viral fever, Iqbal and Hosain are injured.

"Of course, it [absence of veteran players] is a big miss. If you talk about Liton, he has been part of the team for the last four or five years, and he was doing consistently well for Bangladesh. But having said that this will give an opportunity to someone else and I hope they make full use of this opportunity," said Shakib.

Shanaka, however, recalled the last edition, where they emerged champion against the odds. "Last time [in the 2022 Asia Cup] also we went in as underdogs and lost our first game against Afghanistan. But we still managed to finish with the trophy," he said.

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