During the second and final Test of the series between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, a comical incident involving a bizarre Decision Review System (DRS) call by Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto left everyone surprised. In the 44th over, Kusal Mendis faced a delivery from Taijul Islam, and despite confidently defending the ball, Shanto opted for a review for a potential leg before wicket (LBW) dismissal. However, replays showed that the ball had cleanly struck the middle of Mendis’s bat, making it one of the most inaccurate DRS calls in recent memory, sparking discussions among fans and pundits.
This isn’t the first instance of such a review by Bangladesh. In a Test match against India in 2016, a similar bizarre review decision was made against then-captain Virat Kohli. Despite Kohli’s defensive shot against Taijul Islam, Bangladesh appealed, with Mushfiqur Rahim signaling for a review, only for replays to show that the ball had hit the middle of Kohli’s bat, rendering the review futile.
On the first day of the second Test, Sri Lanka ended at 314/4, with Mendis falling seven runs short of his century before being dismissed by Shakib Al Hasan. Dimuth Karunaratne also missed a century, scoring 86 runs. At Stumps, Dinesh Chandimal (34*) and captain Dhananjaya de Silva (15*) remained unbeaten.
In a bid to secure a series-clinching victory, Sri Lanka chose to bat first after winning the toss. In the first Test, Sri Lanka’s strong batting performance led them to a convincing 328-run win, taking a 1-0 lead in the series. Despite Bangladesh’s unsuccessful attempt to chase down a target of 511, Sri Lanka’s strong gameplay from the previous Test gives them an edge in the series.
