Bangladesh players were caught on camera doing fun things while playing on day 2 of the second test against Sri Lanka. at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury stadium in Chittagong. 3 of their fielders who were standing at 1st, 2nd and 3rd slip – Najmul Hossain Shanto, Shahadat Hossain and Zakir Hasan were seen juggling the red ball not with their feet but with their hands. This particular moment, as soon as it happened, started trending on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
During the 121st over of the first innings, when Khaled Ahmed was bowling the last ball of his 17th over, his full outside delivery took away a slight lead. Prabath Jayasuriya’s bat. Jayasuriya was batting at 6 at that time and Bangladesh needed just 4 wickets to eliminate Sri Lanka.
However, that howl from the Bangladesh fielders prevented the wicket from falling. After the ball took advantage, it went straight to Shanto, who was standing at the first slip. At first glance, the ball seemed to go well into his hands, but the Bangladesh captain frustrated him and he could not retain it. The ball was then passed to second slip fielder Shahadat Hossain, who was not expecting the ball to come to him, but when it did, he simply hit it over him.
His swing with the ball was quite weak and that is why third fielder Zakir, despite making an effort to dive, failed to get his right hand under the ball.
Watch the strange moment from day 2 of the second test between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka
A juggling act with the ball. 👀
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.#BANvSL #FanCode pic.twitter.com/zV4JbhGc8u– Fan Code (@FanCode) March 31, 2024
This represents very well the kind of level of fielding that Bangladesh has in its team. It took 3 fielders to try and catch the ball, but there was still a missed opportunity. It was just another moment that took place in this heated all-format series where both teams did their part to taunt each other.
First, it was Sri Lanka who staged the infamous time-out celebration after defeating Bangladesh in the T20I series. Then it was the hosts who retaliated with the broken helmet celebration after their ODI series victory. Now it remains to be seen where the 2-match Test series goes.
If Bangladesh wants to save itself from embarrassment, they will have no choice but to beat Sri Lanka in this test match. The visitors claimed victory in the first Test by a huge margin of 328 runs, thanks to centuries from Dhananjaya de Silva and Kamindu Mendis. Silva and Mendis scored scores of 102 in the first innings each and then the duo scored 108 and 164 in the third innings to achieve a mammoth target of 511 that Bangladesh could not reach.
Bangladesh need magical batting performance to overcome Sri Lanka’s 531 lead
Meanwhile, Bangladesh are currently in dire need of some individual brilliance if they are to overturn the 531-run lead that Sri Lanka gained after winning the toss and batting first. The opening pair of Mahmudul Hasan Joy and Zakir Hasan will have to set the tone for the rest of the batting line to take control.
