Another chapter in the aggro-filled Bangladesh-Sri Lanka rivalry

Has the rivalry between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka gotten feistier? On evidence of the just-concluded T20I series in Sylhet, it would seem so.

The on-field aggro between the two Asian neighbours was sparked off in a big way at the Nidahas Trophy in 2018 with the infamous 'Naagin' dance and then appeared to have hit new highs at last year's ODI World Cup in India when the Sri Lanka team was left aggrieved by Angelo Mathews being ruled 'timed out'.

Mathews was critical of his counterpart Shakib Al Hasan for not withdrawing his appeal in an act the Sri Lankan perceived was against the spirit of the game. Mathews, who would go on to dismiss Shakib in the second innings, celebrated by using the 'timed-out' finger on wrist gesture.

Ahead of this T20I series, Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto insisted that his side wasn't spurred on by the history of acrimony between the two sets of players and didn't see it spilling over into this contest. Sri Lanka head coach Chris Silwerood too echoed the same opinion.

However, those words didn't translate on to the playing field. Soon after taking the first wicket in the opening clash, Shoriful Islam referenced the timed-out incident with a gesture. It continued into the second game of the series when a caught behind decision against Soumya Sarkar was overturned by the TV umpire, forcing the visitors to take the issue up with the match referee.

Though SLC officials insisted that had moved on from the Sarkar episode ahead of the series decider, in reality the body language of the Sri Lankan side in Saturday's game seemed to suggest otherwise.

Things bubbled over following the dismissal of Towhid Hridoy in the final game when someone in the Sri Lanka huddle appeared to have said something to the departing batter, leading to an angry exchange. Umpire Tanvir Islam intervened and had to drag Hridoy back as he continued walking towards the Sri Lankan players.

Then, after sealing a 28-run victory to sew up the series, Sri Lanka served a reminder that the past that the two teams claimed to have been forgotten, was, in reality, an ever-present. Posing with the trophy, the players brought out the 'timed-out' gesture en masse.

Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto said it was high time Sri Lanka moved on from the incident at the World Cup. "It is not about aggressive handling or anything like that. They showed the timed-out gesture, right? They haven't moved on from the timed-out incident," Najmul told reporters at SICS on Saturday following their series loss.

"I think they should get out of it. They should stay in the present. We were within the rules [with the timed out dismissal]. They are in a frenzy about it. I am not too worried about it," he added.

Kusal Mendis, the Sri Lankan captain who was holding the trophy during the aforementioned celebration, said he was not too sure why his team celebrated in that manner. "Someone was doing the timed-out celebrations. I don't know why. We can celebrate our own things. I think we celebrated because we are happy," said Mendis, who scored career best 86 to help the tourist post a commendable total on the board.

When a similar line of questioning continued at the press conference, Sri Lanka's assistant coach Naveed Nawaz took over and insisted that the celebration was misunderstood. "I think we have moved on from that [timed-out incident]. I think it was a celebration which was misunderstood at that time. It was during the heat of the game. Both teams should forget about it," Nawaz said.

"I think both teams play really hard. The atmosphere is really nice. They all give their 100%. Sometimes emotions come into the middle. The players are all very friendly outside the boundary line. They fight really hard once they are inside the ground.

"I think that's what the game is all about. As long as you maintain discipline in the middle and play really hard, and then cross the boundary line and be good to each other and that's what both teams are expected to do," he said.