“Don’t see any world-class bowlers in Sri Lanka”: Khaled Mahmud gives back to Dasun Shanaka over his claim regarding Bangladesh being an easier opponent than Afghanistan

Khaled Mahmud gives back to Dasun Shanaka over latter’s claim of a dearth of quality bowlers in the Bangladesh Asia Cup 2022 squad.

Bangladesh team director Khaled Mahmud did not hold himself back when asked his views on the comments made by Sri Lankan skipper Dasun Shanaka, post latter’s crushing defeat versus Afghanistan during the Asia Cup 2022 opener at the Dubai International Stadium.

To brush it up, Shanaka had, a couple of days ago, commented that apart from Mustafizur Rahman and Shakib-al-Hasan, Bangladesh did not have any other quality bowler in their ranks, which thus make them an easier opponent than Afghanistan.

The Sri Lankan skipper came up with the aforementioned remark, with his team set to next face the Shakib-al-Hasan-led side in a do-or-die encounter on Thursday.

Khaled Mahmud gives back to Dasun Shanaka

Khaled Mahmud, while addressing a press conference ahead of the match day, gave it back to Shanaka by stating that at least his team has a couple of quality bowlers in their line-up, but the Sri Lankan side cannot claim to have even one world-class bowler.

“I don’t know why [Sri Lanka skipper] Dasun Shanaka said such a thing. I heard that he said Bangladesh do not have (world class) bowlers except Shakib and Mustafizur. In fact, I do not see a single (world class) bowler in the Sri Lankan side. At least we have two bowlers. They do not even have anyone of the quality of Shakib and Mustafizur in their side,” remarked the Bangladesh team director when asked to comment on Shanaka’s opinion of his team.

Sri Lanka were handed a heavy shellacking by Afghanistan, as the latter, after wrapping them up on a paltry 105 in 19.4 Overs, chased their total down with 9.5 Overs to spare, and eight wickets still in the bank.

Bangladesh, who too lost to Afghanistan in their first match of the tournament, will now face Sri Lanka today, with the winner set to qualify for the ‘Super 4’ stage and the loser to pack their bags for a return back journey towards their home.