A series win built on the right process

Bangladesh went into this white-ball home series against Sri Lanka with an agenda of improving their all-round performance, especially considering the sub-par campaign the Tigers endured in the ODI World Cup in 2023. In that regard, things went decently for Bangladesh in their 2-1 series triumph, confirmed after their four-wicket win in the final ODI in Chattogram yesterday, as the Tigers got a taste of how to play on flatter tracks where the bowlers were challenged to be crafty enough to get wickets and batters needed to score with more flourish.

The bowlers in particular, especially the pace unit which has improved vastly over the years, found the right atmosphere to have their mettle tested.

In the third ODI, where it was even-stevens for both teams condition-wise, the fast bowlers in particular showed up for the Tigers. Taskin Ahmed got the new ball to move and picked up three wickets. Shoriful Islam produced nippy deliveries that beat the bat. Mustafizur Rahman, meanwhile, repaid the faith put in him by picking up two crucial wickets.

"We're playing in different kinds of wickets now; we are looking at the bigger picture," head coach Chandika Hathurusingha had said ahead of the third ODI yesterday. Hathurusingha clarified the "bigger picture" as their efforts to play and adapt to wickets "where bowlers and batters both come into play in the game."

The team's plans would have added more challenges at home but Tanzim Hasan Sakib, whose aggression and ability to bowl on flat surfaces served the team well in Ebadot Hossain's absence.

Rishad's bowling was effective and then how he overcame pressure to stage a winning partnership with Mushfiqur Rahim would also go down as one of the finds in this series.

Tanzid Hasan Tamim, coming in as a concussion substitute for Soumya Sarkar, showed no signs of being unprepared during a career-best 81-ball 84 yesterday.

So far, it has been a good outing in terms of fixing the process to compete in all conditions.