'In a good position ahead of the decider'

Nine of the 17-man Bangladesh ODI squad attended a practice session at the Sinhalese Sports Club nets this morning today

Three players who played in the eleven in the first two ODIs on March 25 and 28 in Dambulla -- Mushfiqur Rahim, Mustafizur Rahman and Soumya Sarkar -- attended the session along with other members of the squad Imrul Kayes, Nurul Hasan, Shuvagata Hom, Sunzamul Islam, Subashis Roy and Rubel Hossain.

The Bangladesh team, up 1-0 in the three-ODI series after the washout of the second ODI in Dambulla, are guaranteed to walk away with at least a share of the ODI series from a tour of Sri Lanka for the first time.

They achieved the feat earlier in Tests on this tour, with their historic win in the second match at the P Sara Oval giving them a 1-1 draw. 

"I think we will do well against Sri Lanka. They are a very strong team at home," said coach Chandika Hathurusingha when asked about the prospects of a series win. "I can’t remember a time when they didn’t win a single game in a series, so it is a good position we are in. We are 1-0 up, we can’t lose the series. They have to play well, and we have to play our best game to come good."

The coach was not bothered about the rest of the squad opting to take the day off, saying that rest is important in a hot place like Sri Lanka.  

"The thing is, we don’t need to train every day. If the players know they are prepared well enough, they can always have rest. It is very hard to play cricket in Sri Lanka. It is very hot. When players are confident, and if I know they are prepared well enough, I want them to be mentally prepared and physically rested for the game."

The third and final ODI will take place at the SSC on April 1.