Labuschagne lauds Bangladesh's impressive rise ahead of final ODI

Australia's Marnus Labuschagne said on Saturday that the pace revolution of Bangladesh encouraged them to produce sporting wickets.

Bangladesh pacer Taskin Ahmed, speaking after the series win over Australia insisted that they are happy that they earned the win on sporting wickets instead of playing on low and slow wickets that are popularly known as 'paddy field'.

Bangladesh's home successes against major teams have often been downplayed because of the traditionally low and slow surfaces on offer in Dhaka. Critics have regularly pointed to the nature of the pitches when assessing wins over the likes of Australia, New Zealand and England.

However, it was not the case this time around as the Aussies were humbled in front of the pace trio comprising Nahid Rana, Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed.

"I think they've got a really good pace bowling attack that can also get a lot out of a wicket with a bit of pace and bounce and seam," Labuschagne told reporters ahead of the final ODI.

"At times we've probably missed those opportunities in the field. I think game one, I dropped that catch at second slip, and you take that catch and you put a bit of pressure on, and that total can pretty much come down to anything from 200 if you get a few wickets in that power play. So I think the opportunities have been there for us and we just haven't taken them in the field," he said.

"And yeah, it is really nice to come to Bangladesh and see wickets with a bit of pace and bounce, where we just came from Lahore playing on pretty low, slow, spinning wickets," he said, adding that they did not underestimate the hosts.

"Coming into this series, there was certainly no underestimation of Bangladesh. I think playing against a few of their players in the PSL, Shoriful, Rana, Fizz, you really got to see how good those players were. And then coming here, we were ready for the opportunity. It hasn't gone to plan, but I think also seeing how they played against Pakistan in their last Test series, Bangladesh has been very impressive and it's certainly something we're going to make sure we're really prepared for when they come to Australia," he added.

Labuschagne added that they are disappointed that they were unable to train due to heavy thunderstorm and rain that took place ahead of their scheduled practice session in Dhaka on Saturday afternoon and there is a possibility that rain could disrupt the third ODI as well.

"Yeah, you're always disappointed when you don't get the opportunity to get out and train, but it's part of the game. You've got to make sure that you come to the game tomorrow focused and ready to go," said Labuschagne.

"The weather's been pretty consistent like this, so it wouldn't be unexpected if there is a bit of rain in tomorrow's game as well," he said.

"I think that's a good opportunity for us and there's always a silver lining. We've lost the series, we haven't played our best cricket, but there's lots of small wins that you can take from this tour," he said.

"Certainly every game you lose is frustrating and you want to win games. That's why we go out, that's why we spend time away from home is to come and play and do what we love. So we want to go out there tomorrow and play good cricket and finish the series 2-1. At the end of the day, if you lose the series 3-0 or 2-1, you've still lost the series. So that's the part that hurts. But we're going to make sure we come ready to go tomorrow," he concluded.