With hardly any self-confidence left among the Tigers ahead of today's third and final one-dayer at the R Premadasa Stadium, it would be a miracle if they can finally pull their socks in their last game of a very disappointing tour.

From the very beginning of the tour, even the Bangladeshi cricketers accepted that the formidable Lankans are too good for them in their own den.

The repeated failures understandably dented the confidence of Bangladesh captain Ashraful, who surprised everybody by commenting that Javed Omar is the best opener to deal the new ball.

Although the thin-tank's sentiment was to go for the same opening pair for the third match in succession, Ashraful was desperate to bring Javed in place of Shahriar Nafees, who stayed with the team following the Test series because of the skipper's interest.

"Nafees was the highest scorer (33) in the first one-day to give us a good start but still, I prefer Javed because I believe he has the ability to survive against the new ball. Yes, Tamim also failed in both matches but I have the confidence on this guy," explained the 23-year-old yesterday.

Everyone was convinced about Tushar Imran's fate after the right-hander's failure in five innings but no one was in favour of Javed except Ashraful.

"I think Javed was picked up because the planning is to keep as many wickets as possible in the first twenty overs and that might be the reason for the captain's preferring Javed," said selector Akram Khan, who believes that Nafees is the future of the team.

Ashraful, however, said that they made the two changes for the final match with hopes to win at least one game in the series.

"We have to bat well if we want to return home with some solace. And we made the changes to boost our batting. We wanted to see someone like Riyad because Tushar failed to deliver in the last five innings although we had very high hopes on him," said Ashraful. Most of the Tigers might be distressed towards the end of a dour tour but there was a reason for 21-year-old all-rounder Riyad from Mymensingh to be excited as his dream to play in the national side comes true.

"I know we are under pressure following one after another defeat but for every cricketer it is a dream moment to make international debut. So I am excited to play and contribute something for the team," said Riyad, who was spotted by a local coach in his hometown during a school tournament.

"I want to be a perfect all-rounder. I have a long goal but right at the moment my only desire is to show something in my first game," said Riyad, who recalled his elder brother Emdadullah Raju's contribution to his career.