England leg-spinner Adil Rashid believes the success achieved by newcomers to the one-day international stage, with Nottinghamshire’s Jake Ball among them, is testament to the strength of county cricket.
The 28-year-old praised Ball, who produced a match-winning five wicket haul on debut in Dhaka, as well as the youthful batting duo of Ben Duckett and Sam Billings, for their performances during the tourists’ 2-1 win.
“Sam Billings came in for the final game and performed very well, as Ben Duckett and Jake Ball have also done in this series, and all credit to them,” said the Yorkshireman.
“It shows how good our squad is and how strong the domestic stuff back in England is too with the players that are coming through - the England Lions as well.
“It's good to have that competition, it makes people work hard in the nets, work hard on their game and stay really focused on match days.”
Rashid, who contributed ten wickets across the three matches taking his career tally beyond 50, pointed to Bangladesh’s impressive recent record at home and said the moment of victory will live long in the memory.
“Bangladesh are proving very tough opposition in their own conditions and it took a magnificent team effort to win the ODI series,” he said.
“I thought we played exceptionally well in the third ODI and, after losing in Dhaka, showed our character and how clear and confident we are about what we want to achieve as a team.
“The winning shot from Chris Woakes was a real highlight for me given how much effort we've put into the series and how determined Bangladesh were to win their seventh series in a row.
“The Test matches are next up for us and we have a couple of two-day warm-up games against the Bangladesh Cricket Board XI to help us prepare and adapt to the red ball.
“The next few days will also help us to shift our mind-set to the longer form of the game, which is crucial if we are to start strongly next Thursday.”
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