'Body language the difference'

The professionalism his troops showed in the third and final ODI on their way to inflicting the 3-0 whitewash on Pakistan pleased Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza most.

Mashrafe was understandably delighted with the scoreline, but he expressed his satisfaction with the way his team rose up to the challenge of restricting Pakistan to 250 after the visitors had cruised to 203 for 2 in 39 overs.

"We had already confirmed the series. I had earlier said that there might come a time when we would face a difficult challenge and I would like to see my team respond to that… so I am happy with the way they responded today.

Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan cross for a single on way to guiding the hosts to a 7-wicket victory two days later.

"At one stage Pakistan were in a position to score 300-plus runs, but we bounced back. We will win more matches if we can show this kind of character. We should appreciate this professional attitude," remarked a delighted Mashrafe at the post-match briefing last night.

Yesterday the whitewash was complete, thanks to a brilliant hundred from Soumya Sarkar, as the hosts romped to an 8-wicket victory.

"Everyone in the dressing room was saying that winning this series 3-0 was one of our best achievements. We are happy. Rubel is also happy," he chuckled.

Bangladesh looked like a different side from before -- winning this series with ease and continuing their World Cup form -- and Mashrafe said that positive body language was behind his team's success.

"What I wanted from my team was a change in body language. There were times when we broke down due to a dropped catch or something like that and I wanted this mentality to change.

"Small things like Nasir's catch today can make a huge difference to the team. That was one of the turning points. If we want to be a leading cricket team in the world, we have to continue in this spirit," said Mashrafe.

The Bangladesh skipper was not ready to undermine any of Bangladesh's victories by comparing this to the others as to him every international victory had helped Bangladesh improve its value.

"I earlier said that every win had its own value. Now we need to win matches to improve our ranking. I think we need these kinds of wins as much as possible," he said.

"As a captain I never thought about the 3-0 victory before the series. Instead my focus was to play good, positive cricket. We had a good World Cup and we wanted to continue our form. We played good cricket and we got the result… that's it," he continued.

Mashrafe said he believed this team could improve and had got the ability to perform better. "It is natural for the captain to get credit when the team does well. But the truth is that the players have been doing well and they are well aware of their responsibilities.
"As a captain, what I can do is guide them. The players are actually working very hard. If we can continue this trend then it's possible to take this team farther," hoped Mashrafe.

In the end, the brave-heart cricketer thanked everybody as he believed the success was a result of a united effort from the entire team.