Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto hogged all the spotlight for leading the team from the front with a brilliant unbeaten 122 runs against Sri Lanka in the three-match series opener at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium on Wednesday.

However, it all came down to the experience of two former captains Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah as far as guiding the new Bangladeshi captain is concerned considering they brought down the solidity that was required after being reduced to 23-3 at one stage following a remarkable showdown by their bowling unit that helped them dismiss their  opponents for 255 runs.

Mahmudullah, who made a comeback in the ODI after being in the wilderness for quite a while with the World Cup in India last year, made a run-a-ball 37 and added 69 runs with Najmul but more importantly, took the pressure off by playing some attacking strokes.

The partnership was ended after Mahmudullah and Najmul added 69 runs for the fourth wicket but it got Bangladesh back in the game.

“I think the approach that Riyad had – obviously, the ball was swinging, Sri Lanka were targeting the stumps, so, that was a danger ball – but he made a conscious effort to get at the ball. So, if you watched, he changed the length. He came at the bowler. And I think that his approach shifted that emphasis, took a little bit of pressure off Shanto,” Bangladesh’s new batting coach David Hemp said on Thursday.

“And I think the partnership of 69, which sort of set the game up, or say set the chase up if you like. So I thought his approach took a bit of the ascendancy away from Sri Lanka and gave it back to us a touch,” he said.

At 92 for 4, Sri Lanka might have hoped for another opening, but they failed, courtesy of an unbroken 165-run stand in the fifth wicket between Mushfiqur and Najmul.

Mushfiqur guided Najmul by a regular chat in the middle and more importantly, did not go overboard rather mixing his innings with ones and twos in his unbeaten 73-run innings that was decorated with eight boundaries.

“(It was an) Outstanding innings (by Mushfiqur). He got himself in and he didn’t panic. Got himself in, stuck to what he did well on and once he was in, obviously, he had scoring opportunities in terms of boundaries, he capitalized on that,” said Hemp.

“I mean, that’s a bit for us. We’re always looking to score. So, to make sure that you have scoring is not just about boundaries, but also about singles and rotation. I thought we did that really well throughout the innings,” he added.