Visitors Sri Lanka will look to take some positives back home as the nation struggles with economic crunch.
The political situation in Sri Lanka has been quite turbulent with the general public protesting against the government.
The latest turn of the saga came Monday when Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned after a day of violence saw three people including an MP killed and over 150 wounded as government supporters armed with sticks and clubs attacked protestors.
Sri Lanka reached Dhaka Sunday amid an unhappy situation back home for a two-match Test series that is part of the World Test Championship.
Naveed Nawaz, former Bangladesh U-19 coach – now working as Sri Lanka national team’s assistant coach - is also part of the Sri Lankan contingent.
Nawaz in his four years in Bangladesh had guided the U-19 team to a historic U-19 World Cup win in 2020.
Bangladesh batter Mahmudul Hasan Joy and left-arm pacer Shariful Islam are Nawaz’s players from champion U-19 team.
“You can't see many positives [in Sri Lanka] at the moment. It will be very good for us to take some positives back home. We want to keep inspiring the young generation of the country,” said Sri Lanka assistant coach Nawaz while speaking to the media in the sidelines of their practice session at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium Monday.
Nawaz is confident that the unfortunate situation back home has not affected the mentality of the cricketers.
“So far, I don't think it has affected us [Sri Lanka team]. Most of the cricketers are continuing to do their hard work. Their training has been ongoing for a couple of months. I didn't see an instance which affected the players,” said Nawaz.
The tourists are scheduled to play a two-day practice game against a Bangladesh Cricket Board XI Tuesday and Wednesday at Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishthan before travelling to port-city Chittagong for the first match of the series.
Hosts Bangladesh will lock horns with visitors Sri Lanka in the first Test of the series starting this Sunday at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.
The second and final Test will be played at SBNCS in Dhaka from May 23.