Bowling most pleasing: Mahmud

If the big five of Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah Riyad do their job with the utmost eagerness, one can expect nothing less than the best from the Bangladesh national team.

And that is exactly what happened during the two emphatic tri-series wins over Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.

Khaled Mahmud, who is currently in charge of the Tigers as technical director, summed up the sentiment best when he said: "The Bangladesh team's dressing room is now boosted with more than 60 years of international cricket experience and if you combine the international careers of our five senior players. You can advise them very little because they can take their own decisions."

"Everything is same as before but the only difference is that they are enjoying more freedom now," Mahmud said yesterday before adding, "And you can see the results."

The former national skipper saw no point in adding anything further about his stalwarts, instead speaking about how pleased he was with his team's bowling performances in the first two games, especially the impressive displays from Rubel Hossain and Mustafizur Rahman.

"Before praising the bowling effort, let me say something about Mashrafe [Bin Mortaza]. He was simply outstanding. What is there to say about his nagging accuracy? You all saw that. Actually I had very little doubt over my top batsmen but there was a concern with the bowling unit. Refreshingly the consistent and disciplined bowling pleased me most," said Mahmud.

"It was encouraging the way Rubel bowled and not only did Mustafizur get back his rhythm, it was also nice to see him with his trademark smile. I just want to see all of my bowlers continue with the line and length they have followed in the first two games. Now we have to be consistent in our performances so that we can achieve the ultimate goal in the tri-series; clinching the trophy," he added.

Mahmud also informed that the team was not overlooking any mistakes despite the convincing victories.

"We can improve a lot and this team has the chance to achieve many things if we can correct all the mistakes no matter how small they are; like how we gave away a few extra runs in the game against Zimbabwe," Mahmud continued. "Like Mashrafe I also believe we have to have a player at number eight who can change the complexion of a game with real quickfire knock. We have to score more runs in the slog overs."

Mahmud was also unwilling to relate anything to former Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha, instead saying that he wanted to remain focused on the team's journey towards becoming 'invincible' at home.

"We may not be far away from establishing ourselves as an invincible team at home," he concluded.