A battle between youth and experience

The first thing Bangladesh coach Chandika Hathurusingha and captain Najmul Hossain Shanto did after arriving at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium yesterday morning, was to rush to the middle and take a closer look at the pitch.

Later, pace bowling coach Andre Adams also joined them and together they picked the brains of the pitch curator Tony Hemming about how the greenish surface would play.

As they walked back, Adams was showing the coach and captain how much the ball could bounce on the pitch with his hand gestures and Hathurusingha later told the media that he expects the pitch to be starkly different to the one that was used against New Zealand last year, a match the Tigers won.

The weather was overcast in Sylhet yesterday with some rain at noon. The condition is likely to remain the same today and this probability will be a factor when the two sides select their playing elevens.

Given the conditions, there is a strong possibility that Bangladesh will play three pacers. Shoriful Islam, who played all six matches in the white-ball part of the series, reached Sylhet yesterday and didn't train.

Even though Shoriful is not injured, his absence from training could mean the management is thinking about resting him for the first Test to manage his workload.

If he doesn't play, Bangladesh could end up debuting two pacers in the match - Mushfik Hasan and Nahid Rana—hinted Hathurusingha.

"They are both exciting prospects for Bangladesh. They can both bowl 140km/h-plus. They are very young. They are strong boys. They made good starts to their first-class careers. They bowled lots of overs. I am looking forward to seeing one of them playing in this game, if not both," the coach said at the pre-match press conference.

Khaled Ahmed, the most experienced pacer in the Bangladesh squad with 12 matches, is almost certain to play.

Pacer Nahid is being hyped up as Bangladesh's surprise package for Sri Lanka and yesterday, the 21-year-old gave another proof of his express pace when his delivery stung Zakir Hasan's left index finger and caused it to bleed, forcing the left-hander to leave the nets and ice his wound.

Coach Hathurusingha, who spent most of the day inside the dressing room doing last minute homework for the series, was caught unaware of Zakir's incident.

If Zakir's wound keeps him from playing the match, Shadman Islam is likely to replace him.

There is a gulf of difference between the two teams in terms of experience, which became even more pronounced due to Mushfiqur Rahim's absence from the series owing to injury.

The entire Bangladesh squad have played 270 Tests, while the Sri Lanka squad has the combined experience of 491 Tests. Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews alone has played 107 Tests.

Hathurusingha also acknowledged the gap in experience, saying, "We understand that SL has an experienced batting line-up. Couple of the guys maybe have over 100 Tests. We are up to the challenge.

Mominul Haque (59), Liton Das (39) and skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto (25) are the three most experienced players in the Bangladesh camp and will have to shoulder a lot of the responsibility.

Mushfiqur's replacement Towhid Hridoy joined the team yesterday evening but is unlikely to get a start with Shahadat Hossain Dipu, who has played just two Tests, the front-runner to take the veteran's place in the batting order.

Mehedi Hasan Miraz and Taijul Islam are likely to be Bangladesh's two spinners in the match, with Nayeem Islam having to sit out.