April 15, 2008	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 8, 1429

LAHORE, April 14: Bangladesh will be relying heavily on the batting talent of their captain Mohammad Ashraful to put up a fight for some consolation in the remaining games of the One-day International series against Pakistan.

“Ashraful is the most experienced batsman in our ranks; whenever he performs the team wins and we expect that he will return to form in the coming two matches to lead the side to success,” said Bangladesh coach Jamie Siddons here on Monday.

He said a captain’s role in inspiring the team is always vital and it has been proven in the past that whenever Ashraful set the tone with his bat it helps the team in getting success.

“We have yet to play two more matches and if Ashraful manages to score productively, surely it can motivate the team to get a favourable result,” the coach from Australia asserted.

The coach expressed mixed feelings when asked to sum up the performance of his team in the series so far.

“Losing three matches in a row is not a kind of result we were looking for. However, there are some positives, like the team, fighting hard to post their record total of 285 in the third ODI,” he noted.

He also acknowledged that the home team had a clear edge over their opponents.

“The fact remains that Pakistan are too superior compared to Bangladesh and beating them is a challenging task. If we manage to win one game it will be a positive factor for enhancing the confidence of our team,” he said.

The coach vowed that his team would learn from its mistakes to make amends in the final two games, setting aside the hosts’ superiority.—APP