Can Shakib-less Bangladesh keep their unbeaten spree going?

Given recent improvements in his batting, Wanindu Hasaranga has enlarged his reputation as Sri Lanka's most valuable player. But his mouth got him in trouble when he asked umpire Lyndon Hannibal whether he was a Sri Lankan when Hannibal seemed to get a no-ball call wrong (the implication was that only a foreigner would be so biased against Sri Lanka). As a result, Sri Lanka's new captain is suspended from the first two T20Is.

As he is essentially two players in one (a world-class legspinner, and a floating hitter), Sri Lanka will have trouble replacing him. They have legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay in as cover for his bowling, but need the rest of the middle order to produce the bursts of energy he increasingly brings to the Sri Lanka innings with the bat.

Shakib Al Hasan's eye condition will keep him out of the Sri Lanka series entirely. Najmul Hossain Shanto has been appointed as the Bangladesh captain for the next 12 months, so he starts off his permanent stint with this home series. Towhid Hridoy and Mahmudullah are the in-form batters. Anamul Haque, Mohammad Naim and Soumya Sarkar have to do well to stay in contention for a place in the T20 World Cup squad.

Bangladesh have included legspinner Rishad Hossain though mystery spinner Aliss Al Islam is out due to a finger injury. The new selection panel led by Gazi Ashraf Hossain hasn't announced a replacement yet.

Renowned first for his ambidextrous fingerspin, it is his batting that has always been Kamindu Mendis' primary skill, and his batting that Sri Lanka will likely need in this series, especially in the two matches Hasaranga is out for. He had played just one good innings - a 41 off 29 against South Africa - in his first five T20I knocks, and struggled to get chances. In his latest match, less than two weeks ago against Afghanistan, Kamindu struck 65 not out off 39, even if he couldn't quite close that game out. That performance will likely see him get games against Bangladesh, and if he can get his batting right, Sri Lanka will have a player who brings a substantial skillset onto the park. In addition to bowling with both arms, Kamindu has been an outstanding fielder.

T20Is have never been kind to Bangladesh but of late, they have been winning a lot more. They tied the three-match T20I series against New Zealand in New Zealand in December. Before that, they beat Afghanistan, Ireland and England at home. Shakib played a big role in Bangladesh developing a fearless mindset in T20Is. The onus now is on Shanto to keep it going.

In recent years, Bangladesh-Sri Lanka fixtures often tend to spill over emotionally. There has been the Naagin dance of course, but more recently, Bangladesh dismissed Angelo Mathews with a timed out dismissal, after which Mathews alleged that if it had been any other team but Bangladesh, they would not have appealed. Mathews, who has so far made a successful comeback to the T20I team after years of being left out of it, may also have points to prove in a series in which the opposition's head coach is Chandika Hathurusinghe. When Hathurusinghe was Sri Lanka's coach, Mathews had had a months-long public fallout with him. If these matches get tight, there may be more flashpoints.