CHATTOGRAM, May 14, 2022 (BSS)- Sri Lankan Captain Dimuth Karunaratne is keen
to change their record at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chattogram,
where they were unable to win any game against Bangladesh in the longer
version format since 2014.

The Lankan side played four matches here-- won two and drew two. The two wins
came in 2006 and 2009 while they had to draw those two matches in 2014 and
2018.

As they take on Bangladesh for the first of two-match Test series for the
first time in the new decade, they are eying to change the record.

"We have not won in Chittagong yet (since 2009). We want to change that
record and want to move to Dhaka with a winning note," Karunaratne said.

Assistant Coach Naveed Nawaz could be handy in their aspiration to win the
game as he coached Bangladesh Under-19 team no so long ago, he added.

"Naveed was here for few years with BD under 19 team. So, he knows the
condition well. We can get some ideas from him. But we have to play good
cricket from day one to day five."

Sri Lanka won the first 12 matches in a row between September 2001 and March
2013 after which Bangladesh turned the tide. In the last 10 Test matches
between the two sides, Bangladesh though lost five, they won one in 2017 and
forced Sri Lanka to draw four matches.

"Everyone has responsibility in the team. As a batsman, yes I have more of
course. Myself, Angelo: as senior players we need to raise our hands and make
some good innings in this condition. We don't want to put more pressure on
the youngsters. In previous years, we have done really well and I hope we
will do well again," Karunaratne said.

He, however, predicted a high scoring match here as he found the wicket is
pretty flat. But he is confident that his bowlers would find the way to get
past Bangladesh.
 
"If you look at the wickets here, it's pretty flat. Yes they (BD) were
brilliant in home conditions. But we think we can do much better than the
previous years. So, we will see how it goes," he remarked.

Bangladesh looked to have been boosted by the return of Shakib Al Hasan but
Karunratne said that they even prepared for the ace allrounder before he made
his way to the side, recovering from Covid-19.

"When we came here, we knew the Bangladesh squad and Shakib was there. We
knew he would play and we took preparation accordingly. If he could not play
that might be an advantage for us but there is no sudden change of plans for
us at the moment," he said.

 Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka cricket team came to Bangladesh for a two-match
Test series amid a political turmoil back in their country.

"So far I don't think it (the political turmoil) has affected us," Lankan's
assistant coach Naveed Nawaz said.

"Most of the cricketers are continuing to do their hard work. Their training
has been ongoing for a couple of months," he added.