‘I wanted venom on the ball’
Despite discussions about the slow and low nature of the Mirpur surface and how much the Tigers would rely on home conditions as they looked to undo England prior to the start of the three-match T20I series, it was a breath of fresh air to witness the impact of the pace-bowling unit as Bangladesh sealed a maiden whitewash series win against the reigning white-ball world champions.
Young pacer Hasan Mahmud and the experienced duo of Taskin Ahmed and Mustafizur Rahman put their hands up in all three games, playing pivotal roles exactly when required.
Bangladesh pace-bowling coach Allan Donald deserves a lot of credit for the change in the seamers' mindset and 'White Lightning' pointed out the importance of intelligent bowling, which had done the trick against England.
"The biggest area for me to work on was fragility because a lot of players were outcome-driven. Many of them were scared to make mistakes. I moved that completely out of the way and let them do their job. The biggest thing for me was to move that out of the way and compete fiercely. That didn't just take six months, but we are only seeing the results now," Donald told The Daily Star yesterday.
"Hathu [head coach Chandika Hathurusingha] has been emphasising that issue, about expressing our true talent, in every single meeting since his arrival. The response has been phenomenal. Okay, it was home advantage, but the way they bowled and the response we are seeing, I think they are now bowling with their heads and making intelligent decisions. We are taking more time and thinking about it more carefully. We are paying attention to what's going on with the scoreboard."
The legendary South African also praised Mustafizur's skill after the Fizz turned the third game around with his second spell. The visitors were cruising on 100 for one after 13 overs in chase of a 159-run target when the left-armer was handed the ball.
Mustafizur bowled brilliantly, removing set batsman Dawid Malan while conceding just two runs. He came up with another tight performance in the 18th over, conceding just five runs with England needing 36 off the last three overs.
The Fizz ended with the figures of 14 for one from his four overs, becoming only the second Bangladeshi to scalp 100 T20I wickets.
"I just gave them the simple message that I wanted venom on the ball. If that happens and the Fizz can do what the Fizz does... That's what I coached. I believe this level is all about mindset and fierce competitiveness."