Top 3 moments in Bangladesh-Sri Lanka matches in T20Is
Bangladesh will take on Sri Lanka in their opening encounter of the ongoing T20 World Cup at the Grand Prairie Stadium in Dallas, Texas on Friday, June 7.
The Lankans have already played their first game of the campaign. They lost to South Africa and will look to forget it as soon as possible .
Bangladesh, on the other hand, will be worried about injuries to key players Shoriful Islam and Taskin Ahmed that may give them big setbacks.
These two teams have often courted controversy when they have played against each other in the past and more such is expected on Friday.
The games between these two teams have been playfully termed as the 'El Nagino' derbies owing to the 'Naagin' dance celebrations that precipitated them.
In this listicle, we take a look at the top three moments in matches between these two teams.
#1 Mushfiqur Rahim's Nagin dance celebrations
Mushfiqur Rahim, who is one of the finest wicketkeeper-batters to have plied his trade in international cricket, is seen as one of the progenitors of this rivalry between these two teams.
It all began in the Nidahas Trophy in 2018 when Bangladesh beat hosts Sri Lanka in a group stage game.
Rahim and all-rounder Nazmul Islam started a rather awkward-looking snake dance, called the 'Naagin' dance after their victory much to the chagrin of the Lankan supporters.
This celebration was carried forward by the Bangla Tigers in the virtual knockout between the two teams that they won thanks to late heroics by Mahmudullah. The Bangladeshis repeated the 'Naagin' celebrations drawing the ire of the locals.
#2 Shattered dressing room door
The Nidahas Trophy was in the news once again as it led to a moment of sheer discomfort between these two teams. The Bangladesh dressing room door at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo was left shattered after a game that saw a lot of shoving and aggressive behavior from both teams.
It was reported that the Bangladesh players got angry after the umpire refused to signal a no-ball post a second bouncer bowled in an Isuru Udana over. On the field, Bangladesh players Mahmudullah and Shakib Al Hasan got into a tussle with the Lankans after the latter were seen arguing with a substitute fielder. The shattered dressing room door was most likely the work of someone from the inside of the room.
#3 Wristwatch celebrations from Sri Lanka
Another major moment between these two countries was when Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh in the latter country in a T20I series earlier this year and celebrated in a rather strange manner.
After the trophy was awarded to the Lankans, all the players gathered around it and pointed to their wrists while posing for the official team photo.
This was in response to the timed-out dismissal of Mathews in the ODI World Cup last year in India, as mentioned above. Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto, understandably, was not very happy about this.
"There is nothing to handle aggressively when it comes to this. I think they are yet to move on from the timed out dismissal. They should move on and stay in the present since we didn’t do anything which outside the rules of cricket. I think they are making a fuss of it, but we are not worried about it," he had said.