'I see no reason to be on the back foot’

Even as everyone who witnessed the match were saying that beating Pakistan with the odds firmly stacked against Bangladesh was one of the country's better cricketing achievements, player-of-the-match Mushfiqur Rahim insisted that it was just another match for them. 

"It's just another game of cricket. It's nothing special to play against Pakistan or any team," said Musfiqur after the 37-run win in their Asia Cup match in Abu Dhabi. "I think Afghanistan are a great team and also Sri Lanka, although they lost both their matches and they were knocked out from the group stage. But I still think they are a dangerous team because in January they beat us in our backyard. 

"You can't take any team for granted. It was just another game and we treated it like that. All the guys were spirited because it was a great chance to get to the final and hopefully we can make it to number one and end up winning."

When reminded that Bangladesh were without the injured stalwarts Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal and still ended up winning against more-fancied opposition, Mushfiqur – who scored 99 in Bangladesh's 239 all out -- softened his stance a little.

"Of course, this is just one match. Overall, if you think about everything -- it was really hot, we lost three wickets -- and want to take credit for all those then yes, it's a special win," he continued with a smile. "But I think it is just like another match, For sure, the match was in their [Pakistan's] backyard and they know the conditions better than us. We all know how dangerous the Pakistan attack can be in these conditions because there is a bit of help for pace bowlers early on. So from that perspective it was an important win for us. 

"And as you said, two or three players from our best 11 cannot play because of injury, so from that perspective I would say that all of us had to take a little extra responsibility. So Alhamdulillah, it was good in every way."

Perhaps Mushfiqur was downplaying the importance because his eyes were set on something bigger – winning the final against India after having made the title match in two of the last three editions: losing against Pakistan in 2012 at home and against India in 2016, also at home. 

They play the final against on Friday India, the form team of the tournament, having won comfortably against every opposition – including Bangladesh by seven wickets – until they rested a host of their first-choice players against Afghanistan on Tuesday, a game that ended in a thrilling tie. 

"I think so, the confidence is there although I feel we haven't played to our best yet in the three departments," Mushfiqur said when asked if they have a chance against the top-ranked ODI side. "We have been struggling in the batting group in the top order. India are playing outstanding cricket in this tournament, but they are also human beings and they are bound to make mistakes. So I think if we can put up a good score on the board, we can probably pressure them. If we are chasing a good score, if we get a good start then hopefully we can pull it off. That's one thing we hope we can achieve in this tournament." 

The logic behind Bangladesh ODI skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza's backing of pacers in the ODI format was validated yesterday, and it was the inspirational cricketer who led from the front in his milestone 200th international match for Bangladesh in the first ODI against West Indies.

It was not just about formulating a plan and expecting the others to implement; Mashrafe showed why he has managed to come this far and play 200 ODIs -- 198 for Bangladesh, two for Asian XI in 2007 -- as his experience informs every ball he bowls.

Bangladesh managed to keep things tight for the visitors who opted to bat on a slow Mirpur wicket offering some movement, restricting West Indies to a modest 195 for nine in which the pacers shared seven wickets among them.

It was Mashrafe who led the three seamers, ending up with figures of three for 30 from 10 overs, which included 41 dot balls -- the most by a Bangladesh bowler yesterday.

Left-arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman also bagged three wickets for 35 runs from his 10 overs while Rubel Hossain was the only pacer who was expensive, conceding 61 runs from his 10 overs and picking up a wicket.

After spinners -- Mehedi Hasan Miraz and Shakib Al Hasan -- provided a tight start with the new ball, Mashrafe brought himself to the attack in the 15th over of the innings and was greeted by a four towards cover by Darren Bravo. After that though, it was all about Mashrafe's experience and the ability to adapt his bowling.

The 'Narail Express' provided hardly any room for the West Indies batsmen and kept mounting the pressure. He bowled seven overs on the trot in his first spell and ended up picking two wickets for just 14 runs.

His first victim was Bravo when he went to clear the ropes and mistimed it, but Mashrafe must thank Tamim Iqbal, who sprinted towards his right from long off and completed a magnificent catch with a full-length dive.

Shai Hope was his second victim when the batsman was caught at point going for a slash as things started to get worse for the visitors.

Mashrafe returned for his second spell in the 37th over and immediately removed West Indies skipper Rovman Powell, conceding just five runs in his two-over spell.

With just 19 runs from nine overs, it was the last over that ruined the figures a little for Mashrafe as the six off the last ball took his runs conceded figure to 30.

Just to give a brief background of the other pressures surrounding Mashrafe, before the game was over his involvement in politics and the decision to contest the upcoming general elections for the ruling party has taken all the limelight from Mashrafe the player to Mashrafe the politician.

Keeping all the off-field issues aside, the charismatic cricketer managed to attract attention for what he has been doing best all for 17 years -- bowling.

If there was any question about the quality of Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe Bin Mortaza's focus on cricket after he became involved in politics, he answered it not only with three good bowling performances in Bangladesh's 2-1 ODI series win, but also with words after winning the third and final game against West Indies in Sylhet yesterday.

The 35-year-old, who will contest a seat in his hometown of Narail in the upcoming general election, very seldom gets riled up by questions. He was not exactly angry, but reacted with more irritation than any cricketing question can cause when asked what his plans were in the political sphere.

"Because of this type of question, I did a press conference before the series," Mashrafe, who finished as the joint-highest wicket-taker of the series with six scalps, said. "I expected that there wouldn't be any such questions during the series. I want to thank you for not asking me these questions in the last 8-10 days, which helped me a lot."

The win was all the more auspicious as it came in the 70th ODI that Mashrafe played as captain, a Bangladesh record.

There was reason to be miffed as Mashrafe was basking in the glory of the country's eighth series win out of 12 since the end of the 2015 World Cup. All of those have come under Mashrafe and he believed it put the team in good stead for the 2019 World Cup less than six months away in England.

"Winning eight out of 12 ODI series makes it clear that we have progressed, and we are playing with confidence," Mashrafe said. "We have the New Zealand series coming up [in February 2019]. It is an important series for us since we lost to them last year. I think we have a more balanced sideand hope to do well there."

There was one more question that was not about the match that he had to bat aside, and that was regarding whether the 35-year-old would retire after the World Cup.

"From the bottom of my heart, I have never deeply thought about [this being my last game at home]. What I will do after the World Cup, I will decide after the last match in the World Cup. I will come home and tell you if I am no longer playing and if I want to review my situation, I will still let you know. So, don't be puzzled. Just relax," Mashrafe said with a laugh.

The person he had to thank for this latest laurel was sitting beside him. While Tamim Iqbal and Soumya Sarkar made a mockery of the chase, it was Mehedi Hasan Miraz's career-best figures of four for 29 that enabled the Tigers to romp home with eight wickets and 69 balls to spare.

"The wicket had slight moisture with help for spinners early in the game.  It was great to bowl eight overs from one end, which helped me take wickets," Mehedi said. He has just recently, from the tour of West Indies in July, started playing regularly in the ODI team and was beaming with delight at having put in a series-winning performance.

"I have always wanted to do well in ODIs, after I made the good start in Tests. I have only become consistent in ODIs since the West Indies series. If I bowl tightly in ODIs, the captain will have trust in me."

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza said that having lost the first two ODIs by big margins, the team had looked to do something different but in an attempt to do something different, they lost sight of sticking to the basics during the third ODI which his side lost by 88 runs.

New Zealand completed a series whitewash as top-order batting debacle was once again the issue for the Tigers in the third ODI. "What happened in the first two matches also happened today. Maybe we did not think about this since we have to be positive every day. Tamim [Iqbal] scored runs in West Indies but during Asia Cup we also felt what we felt today. We had lost two or three wickets early there too," Mashrafe said in post-match press conference today.

There was the urge to stay positive but it cost the Tigers even as they had talked about not losing wickets early on after the first two matches.

"Not only me, but the whole team was positive. I think we tried to do something different. It's normal for there to be bounce and swing in these wickets but we could not stick to the basics," he said.

The series was crucial to gauge their performances and strengths before the World Cup but the Tigers will once again have to focus on top-order issues. The conditions in Ireland and the World Cup in England could be quite similar to what they faced in England and Mash talked about 'finding a way'.

"There is two months left before the next tournament. Conditions will be similar in Ireland and we have to find a way. Last year there were grassy wickets and the conditions there do not favour us and we have to figure out how we will score runs there. Not to give away too many wickets early since batting becomes easier later on," he said.

That last sentence certainly was true for the Tigers in this series. While top-order was an issue, the lower middle-order had contributed to the score, with Sabbir Ahmed, Mohammad Mithun and Mohammad Saifuddin amongst the runs. But Mash knows it very well that without the top-order firing, winning matches will be near impossible.