SL to take on hosts Bangladesh in the opening match of the four-nation Asia Cup
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

MUMBAI, APRIL 25: Holders Sri Lanka will take on hosts Bangladesh in the opening match of the four-nation Asia Cup cricket tournament to be held at Dhaka from May 30 to June 8.

India, who finished runners-up when the tournament was last held in Sri Lanka in 1997, are to open their engagements by taking on the Lankans on June 1, as per the revised schedule of the tournament available with the cricket board here. June 9 will be the reserve day for the final.

Meanwhile, the selection of the Indian captain for the tournament is now expected to be held only on May 3 or 4 as one of the selectors, T A Sekhar, is to return home on May 2 from Australia, according to board sources.

The meeting was originally scheduled to be held here on April 23, the last day of the Ranji Trophy final, but had to be put off to the first week of may as Sekhar was unavailable, having gone to the Adelaide-based Australian Cricket Academy.

A move to hold the meeting on May 1 at Bangalore, along with the inaugural function of the newly set-up National Cricket Academy, has also been stymied by South Zone representative Sekhar's changed travel plans.

As per the new thinking over choosing the rest of the team members for the event, the selectors are likely to name 20 probables to undergo a pre-tournament training camp, which has been scheduled from May 14 to 23 at Calcutta, before finalising the touring squad during the course of the camp.

A final decision on these issues is expected to be taken by the board in a couple of days, the sources added.

The tournament schedule is:

May 30:Bangladesh v Sri Lanka
May 31: Rest Day
June 1: India v Sri Lanka
June 2: Pakistan v Bangladesh
June 3: India v Bangladesh
June 4: Pakistan v Sri Lanka
June 5: Rest Day
June 6: Pakistan v India
June 7: Rest Day
June 8: Final
June 9: Rain/Reserve Day.

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