Tigers out to recover ODI form, Lankans seek pride

After a mouthwatering T20I series, now it's time for the ODIs. Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are going toe to toe once again in the 50-over format. 

The T20I series was nothing less than spicy, along with some on-field controversy on Soumya Sarkar's "was it a spike!" call to the infamous timed out celebration of the Lankans, Towhid Hridoy's altercation with the opposite number, and Rishad Hossain and Jaker Ali's heroics- the three-match series in Sylhet couldn't have offered more. 

As for the ODIs, the scenario is a bit different, more so for the Bangladesh team, as they haven't been playing well in this format lately. 

Although this is the year of the T20 World Cup, there's a buzz around- How could playing ODIs possibly help the team? 

Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto seems to have the answer. "I don't think it'll be a problem. The players are conditioned to perform in any format at any moment. In the last four-five years, cricket has been played like this all around the world. There'll be enough time to get prepared for the T20 World Cup; everyone has that mindset".

Speaking of Bangladesh's recent ODI form, Shanto doesn't look so bothered. "There'll always be challenges. In international cricket, you feel pressure while playing against any given opponent. We played good cricket from 2015 to 2022. One bad year can happen, it's very normal. We need to move on, and we're ready to do that," he said.

On the other hand, Sri Lanka have decided to announce their squad for the ODIs at the last moment. 

The Lankan head coach, Chris Silverwood, attended the press conference and spoke about his team's target in this series. Confidence in sports is pretty useful, and winning the T20 series has definitely done the trick for Sri Lanka, Silverwood agreed. "It is. Obviously, we're going to take the series very seriously, as I'm sure both teams will. We're in a new cycle now, so we're again building towards a style of cricket that we want to play in the next World Cup."

"We're trying to continue the momentum that we've had from the series at home as well as in Sri Lanka, where we played some fantastic cricket'. He added. Silverwood also spoke about the growing rivalry between the two nations, 'The rivalry is obviously great. I think we need good competition. And as I said about the T20, it was two good sides, and we're going to play some competitive cricket. I expect exactly the same again in this tournament".

Bangladesh will look forward to this series as a way of finding their feet again in ODI cricket; The result in the World Cup was a rather forgettable one. Sri Lanka, on the other hand, would like to make up for their failure to qualify for the Champions Trophy. As the clock will reach 2.30 PM local time on Wednesday, it'll be game on between the two freshly baked enemies.