Pakistan stalwarts Younis Khan (L) and Shahid Afridi (R) joke with coach Mohsin Khan during training at the Zohur Ahmed Stadium in Chittagong yesterday. : In-form Nasir Hossain (R) and Elias Sunny watch practice at the Zohur Ahmed Stadium in Chittagong yesterday. The third ODI will be held today.The third and final one-dayer between Bangladesh and Pakistan turned into a dead rubber after the visitors confirmed the series by winning the first two games, but still the lacklustre home side stand to achieve a lot at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium today.
A win at their lucky ground in the port city will not only be a real boost for the tamed Tigers ahead of their two-match Test series, but also break the long jinx against Pakistan whom Bangladesh are yet to beat since their elevation to the elite level.
The happy memories at this ground, where the Tigers won all their last four limited-over encounters, should inspire Stuart Law's charges to bounce back from their disappointing performance so far in the series, but above all the Tigers must apply themselves in their batting against a formidable Pakistan bowling attack. Fans would love to see the local boy Tamim Iqbal get back among the runs in the last game to give Bangladesh a start but the bad news is that he will miss his regular opening partner Imrul Kayes, who suffered a groin injury, forcing the team think-tank to shuffle the batting order again.
The pathetic top order can take inspiration from Nasir Hossain who showed his character in the second game to score his maiden hundred. The heroics of Nasir might have salvaged some pride but the batting remains a grave concern for Bangladesh in this series as it seems that they have simply forgotten the art.
Handling the world-class Pakistan attack has become the main issue for the Tigers and Bangladesh vice-captain Mahmudullah Riyad echoed the sentiment.“They have a very good bowling attack in which all of the bowlers are confident. Maybe we are not playing like we want to. We lost wickets because we were in a hurry. The wicket was really good in the last game. Shakib and Nasir played well, especially Nasir who has taught us some stuff like how to be patient against this attack,” observed Riyad hoping that the fans will see something positive in today's match.
When asked about the lucky ground, Riyad said: “These small things help us get inspired. Everyone says this is our lucky ground. Let's see what happens. We have some good memories at this ground. We'll try to rectify the mistakes we've made in the last games.”
One might have thought that Pakistan would take the game lightly after a series victory but captain Misbahul-Haq issued a warning by saying that they want to win all matches in the series but hinted at a few changes in the playing eleven.
“We are not relaxed. There is still one match to go in the one day series and we have two Test matches so we are just focusing on that. Everybody is ready for the next game and we want to win every game and I think it's our main goal and all are looking forward to the coming matches,” said the successful Pakistan skipper when asked about how he will motivate his side for the dead rubber.
The Pakistan captain was also not ready to focus on Bangladesh's track record at this ground where they are going to play their first match.
Misbah also explained the reasons behind his side's recent discipline performance in the all forms of the game.
“We are working on it for the last one and a half years. The management, the coaches, the supporting staff and the players are working very hard. Some of the youngsters came into the side and have worked hard to make their spot worthy. All of us have set a goal that we will now need to raise the bar which is being understood by every member of the side,” he said.
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