Bangladesh Captain Mashrafe Mortaza Urges Team to Maintain Intensity for Upcoming South Africa Series

After winning the One-Day International (ODI) series 2-1 win against India, Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza on Wednesday said the team needs to keep up and maintain the good performance they have showed recently in the upcoming series against South Africa as well.

Chasing India's total of 317/6, Bangladesh managed to get to only 240 runs in 47 overs in the third and final ODI here on Wednesday. (Bangladesh Move Up in ICC Rankings)

For Bangladesh, Sabbir Rahman top scored with a knock of 43, while Suresh Raina picked up 3/45 off his eight overs. The hosts, however, clinched the three-match series 2-1 having won both the earlier matches.

"A lot of series are coming up. South Africa is coming here next week and our fitness levels need to be up there. We need to keep going like the way we have done, but it's also important to learn from the mistakes. Hopefully, we can play well against South Africa as well," Mortaza said at the post match presentation ceremony. (Mustafizur Rehman's Rise: The Indian Connection)

The skipper said they have lots of positives to take from the series against their neighbours and they will learn from the Wednesday's loss.

"The way we have been playing, we can take a lot of positives from it. Not to forget, we can learn from the mistakes we made today. Mustafizur Rahman has been brilliant; he handles the pressure well too," he said.

"He's a newcomer and there's a lot for him to learn. Hopefully, he can keep going like this. We lost too many wickets in the middle. The batsmen got starts but couldn't get going," Mortaza concluded.