In what could be a fresh jibe at Bangladesh Cricket Team, Mahela Jayawardene has stoked the fire in what could be termed as cricket’s newest rivalry. Be it the naagin dance or playing it dirty till the very end, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have often brought out the worst among each other. It all began in Nidhas Trophy 2018, and it is raging on and on. Even on Thursday, both the teams were up against each other as Sri Lanka first accused Bangladesh of having just two world-class bowlers. Meanwhile, Khaled Mahmud, Bangladesh’s Director of Cricket hit back, saying that Sri Lanka have none of them.
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Now, after Sri Lanka’s three-wicket win over Bangladesh, former Sri Lanka captain has taken a fresh jibe with this tweet. “Well done guys!!! Fantastic fight back to win this game under pressure.. safe to say it was a world-class performance,” he tweeted.
Well done guys!!! Fantastic fight back to win this game under pressure.. safe to say it was a world class performance 👏👏👊 @OfficialSLC #AsiaCup2022
— Mahela Jayawardena (@MahelaJay) September 1, 2022
It all began when Sri Lanka skipper Dasun Shanaka said that Bangladesh are an easier opponent than Afghanistan. “Afghanistan has a world-class bowling attack. We know Fizz (Mustafizur Rahman) is a good bowler. Shakib (Al Hasan) is a world-class bowler.”
“But apart from them, there is no world-class bowler in the side. So if we compare with Afghanistan, Bangladesh is an easier opponent,” Shanaka had said in a press conference after Sri Lanka lost to Afghanistan.
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On the eve of the much-anticipated clash, Bangladesh team director Khaled Mahmud directly countered the comments made by Shanaka.
“I don’t know why Dasun made that comment. Definitely, Afghanistan has a better squad. He said we have only two bowlers in our line-up, but I don’t see any bowlers in Sri Lanka. At least Bangladesh has world-class bowlers like Mustafiz and Shakib. They don’t even have that. It is not about the words. It is about how you play the game.”
Mahmud’s comments caught the eye of Sri Lanka legend and former captain Mahela Jayawardene, who urged the Shanaka-led unit to respond back to Bangladesh on the field. “Looks like it’s time for @OfficialSLC bowlers to show the class and batters to show who they are on the field,” tweeted Jayawardene.
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