Every time Bangladesh raised the prospect of making a clean sweep off a series they accomplished the feat. The Tigers will be keen to keep the record intact when they face Pakistan in the third and final one-day international of three-match series in Mirpur today. With the series already in the bag, Bangladesh have now the chance of making some experiments to give the fringe players an opportunity to prove their worth.
But the team management apparently opted against the idea considering the rankings aspect, something which Bangladesh cannot afford to ignore.
Bangladesh, ranked ninth at the moment, must improve their ranking by September 2017 if they are to directly qualify for the 10-team 2019 World Cup in England.
A clean sweep win over Pakistan will not change their position this time, but will take them at least closer to other teams.
It will take their rating point to 81 from pre-series 76, meaning they will remain only 11 points shy of eighth-place team, which will be Pakistan in this case.
‘It is important for us to improve our one-day ranking so this is not the time to do experiments,’ spin bowling coach Ruwan Kalpage told reporters in Mirpur on Tuesday.
‘It is important for the team to win every game at the moment. Because it is the only way we can come up in one-day ranking.’
A clean sweep win should also help the Tigers keep up the momentum heading into Twenty20 and Test series, which are equally important for the team.
Bangladesh lost all Twenty20 and Test matches they played against Pakistan so far, and the positive body language of the Tigers in Tuesday’s training indicated that they want to push Pakistan further for winning the final one-dayer. ‘No team wants to lose the last match and it is same with us,’ skipper Mashrafee bin Muratza told on the sideline of the training session.
Mahrafee, however, added that clean sweep was never a goal.
‘We always wanted to win the series,’ he said. ‘But we never planned to make a clean sweep in the beginning rather we planned to take one match at a time and it still remained the same.
‘The only difference is that if we can win it that will earn us a clean sweep.’
Pakistan received a boost when Mohammad Hafeez was cleared to bowl, but the visitors were still struggling to get the best combination for the game. Rahat is unlikely to play due to hamstring injury and can be replaced by Umar Gul.
While Gul, who was not selected for recent World Cup, will add some experience to their struggling bowling line up, his form should be still a worry for the visitors.
The 31-year old right-arm pacer took just six wickets in five List A match before being included in the side as a late replacement of Ehsan Adil.
Tamim Iqbal can steal feast on his bowling, which will make 3-0 only a matter of time for the Tigers.
-With New Age input