After clinching series, Mashrafe says Bangladesh not under pressure to beat India in final ODI

After sealing their first-ever series win against mighty India, captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza has reversed his opponents’ pre-match comments that ‘Bangladesh have nothing to lose’.

The Tigers bagged the ODI series with a game in hand after easily winning the second match by six wickets at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium in Mirpur on Sunday.

Through the historic victory, Bangladesh have also ensured a spot in the 2017 Champions Trophy.

When asked, Mashrafe said at the post-match briefing that they were not under pressure anymore.

The skipper’s comment was an apparent attempt at ridiculing Rohit Sharma’s remarks during Saturday press briefing where the Indian batsman said Bangladesh “have nothing to lose, but India got everything to lose. We have to be extra careful in what we do”.

Mashrafe said they would not be under pressure ahead of the last ODI on Wednesday.

“No one said before that we will be ahead 2-0 after two matches. So there’s no pressure on us.

“Indian cricketers have also said that we had nothing to lose.”

“We only want to enjoy the last match,” said Mashrafe, one of the most successful captains who has been leading the Tigers since Zimbabwe toured Bangladesh last year.

“The result (of the third ODI) can be in our favour if we can continue to play like we’ve played until now. But we are not thinking about all these right now.”

“All of us plan to recover fully and stay fit for the next match. We just want to give our best,” he added.