‘We want to create a culture of winning from any position’

Bangladesh will be taking on India in the third and final ODI tomorrow at Chattogram, hoping to clinch a 3-0 clean sweep after edging India in two tight contests at Dhaka and fielding coach Shane McDermott said the culture the coaching staff wants to instill into the team is to be able to win from any position with any player.

Mehedi Miraz and Mustafizur Rahman put on a 51-run partnership in the first ODI to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat during a last-wicket stand and then Mehedi and veteran Mahmudullah Riyad pulled through when required in the second ODI with six wickets down for 69 runs to put on a 148-run stand – the highest partnership for Bangladesh against India for any wicket in ODIs -- to get Bangladesh to a commendable total. Mehedi's ton and Mustafizur's death-over skills came to the fore in the second game, giving Tigers massive confidence boost.

The top-order however has remained a concern but McDermott said the team wanted to create the culture of being able to comeback under any situation.

"Definitely, no questions asked. That's been a common concern for us," the Tigers' fielding coach said at press conference today.

"This wicket (at Chattogram) is probably going to be a better wicket. We probably going to get more value for our shots and it's going to be a bit more consistent, especially with the bounce.

"Our KPI (Key Performance Indicator) from a batting point of view is to have one of our top five batter around till the 40th over, to take the game as deep as we can. Guys are getting through that tough patch of the first 20 balls, the hardest time to bat. It is the next step now to take that 20 balls to 50-100 balls and that match-winning innings. Someone from the top five doing it," he said about the task for the top-order which has not clicked despite a few batters getting in.

McDermott however warned that Tigers have the depth to challenge teams even lower down the order.

"Look at our No 8 batter at the moment. He is showing confidence," he said of Miraz.

"Yes, the responsibility lies with the top five or six. But everybody is a batter and we are a team. If that means that our number 8 or as Mustafizur showed the other night at number 11, gets us over the line, to me that's the culture we want to create so that we can win from any position with any player. Whether we have injuries and some of our best players out of the team, we are hoping that we can adapt within the squad so that we can replace that player as competitively as possible," he said.

McDermott, who has previously worked under the BCB between 2006 and 2008 as fielding coach, head coach of the national academy and HP team's fitness coordinator said that coming back into the Tigers' setup was easy given his relationships with the senior cricketers.

"I loved my experience here back in 2006 to 2008. I worked for the Academy, A team and national team 15-odd years ago. It was great to see the likes of Mahmudullah and Mushy debut and now working with them at the end of their career. I think they are surrounded by a very good group of young and positive players. We have a good base of four or five senior players. They have been excellent at nurturing new players into the squad. It is nice having friendships with senior players a long time ago. It has made the transition of coming back a lot easier. I love to watch them grow. Shakib, Mushfiq and Mahmudullah are the best players the country have ever produced. It is a fact, statistically. It is very humbling to be back here to work with them again," he said.

He also opined that there will not be any drop in intensity with the series already in the bag.

"The job is never done. We don't take international matches lightly. This team has never beaten India 3-0, that's a massive goal for us. When we don't win 3-0, we really pride ourselves on being hard to beat. We have come close against Pakistan in New Zealand. We came close to potentially making it to the T20 World Cup semifinals. We have been competitive and we are in pressure moments more often than not. I know that after the series win, the boys have one eye on one more win in this ODI series," he concluded.