Things we learnt from tri-series

India

Powerplay at just 18

Halfway through the nidahas trophy Washington Sundar had already made everyone stand up and take notice of him for his extraordinary control through the power play Over. It was almost default that Rohit Sharma will throw the ball at him inside the first 6 over of play and the teenager will accept it gleefully. Having open the Bowling in 6 game out of 11 in the last IPL Washington had already developed the leanness for it and in the leaders Trophy is economy of less than 6 with 46 Dodge ball in 13 over bowled in the power play only took his reputation further. The 18 year old also became only the third teenager to back the man of the series award in a T20 Series. Washington would know that once the big Boyz return his chance will diminish. However his strong display in the tournament has done enough to create a recall value in the selector smile and whenever there's an opportunity next Sundar might not have to queue up.

No panic station in the middle order yet

There's very little that openers Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan left for the batting lineup to do and while they took turns to perform there was just one game where both fails together against Sri Lanka. However both Manish Pandey and Dinesh Karthik seized the opportunity then by stitching together a 68 run partnership and ensuring that they chased down the middle in total of 152 comfortably. Although Suresh Raina didn't play that one bug substantial knock but he too has hit the ball well as seen in his brief cameos. India shouldn't be too worried about its middle order batting and Dinesh Karthik bring whrilwind knock that sealed the final in their favour and this is the reason to be relaxed. India would have liked to experiment more though by handing chance to Deepak Hooda but the fact that Vijay Shankar got his first hit only in the final and Washington not getting any batting practice at all even the second string batting lineup look settled.

Tough initiation for Vijay Shankar but he shown in him fight

Vijay Shankar was feeling in the booth of Hardik Pandya in the captaincy of an all rounder but there's a strike contrast between the two styles of play. While Hardik X Factor is there for everyone to see Vijay is more the one who could get lost in the crowd. But that counts for little as long as he does his job well. He had more wickets then catches been taken off his bowling. However he's toughest initiation was when he was promoted ahead of Karthik in the final. The four dot he played out in a row in the 18th over almost pushed India to a point of no return and the desperation was written all over his helpless face. But as Rohit Sharma spoke in the post match press conference these are lessons that will make him tougher as a cricketer.

Sri Lanka

If one Kusal wasn't enough damage in Bangladesh, there were two in Sri Lanka.

On the previous tour when Sri Lanka had visited Bangladesh, Kusal Mendis had smashed the daylights out of Bangladesh's bowling with scores of 53 and 70. In his next T20 assignment, the Nidahas Trophy, he scored two more fifties, taking his tally to four fifties in six games. While Mendis had been promoted to handle the spinners in Bangladesh, he went on to do more than just that, ensuring he retained his spot at the top of the order. There were only a couple of occasions he failed in the tri-nation tournament, at the start against India and in the last game against Bangladesh. However, when that happened, the other Kusal - Kusal Janith Perera, put his hand up. While Perera ripped Shardul Thakur's opening over for 27 runs to score 66 that evening, he followed it up with a 61 this time, off just 40 balls against Bangladesh. When one hasn't done well, the other has ensured that the team is steadied through rough waters. And then there are days when both fire, like in the game against Bangladesh where they posted 214 in 20 overs.

Where are the pacers, Sri Lanka?

If the defeats against Bangladesh and the failure to make it to the final of a tournament being played at home forces them to go into a reflection of their performances, their pace bowlers will occupy a lot of space on that chart. Neither of Nuwan Pradeep, Dushmantha Chameera or Suranga Lakmal impressed, with Pradeep and Chameera going over 10 runs an over throughout the series. While Lakmal played only one game, it was baffling to see the vice-captain warming the benches. Both bowlers picked up just seven wickets together from four games and going ahead, Sri Lanka might just have a lot to worry about, or hope that this was just a passing phase.

Bangladesh

Mushfiqur, Mahmudullah and maturity

Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah have been held culprits for long, for the heart-wrenching loss in Bengaluru to India. Although, it's been two years to that game but it was only when Bangladesh chased down 214 against Sri Lanka in Colombo that those ghosts were buried. Although the duo are no recent discoveries of Bangladesh, their maturity and consistency underlined two of their team's greatest wins in international cricket, and not just in T20Is. While Mushfiqur scored two unbeaten 70s, with one of them coming in the scintillating 214 chase, the lack of support during the other saw Bangladesh miss out against India. Although Mahmudullah didn't score as big as his wicketkeeper, his heroic 43 amid on-field tiffs and mindboggling drama, saw Bangladesh oust the hosts out of the tournament. Although Bangladesh went on to suffer a gutting loss on the final ball of the final, the duo's coming of age in the middle-order bodes well for Bangladesh.

Shakib and his balancing act

Without their star all-rounder and actual skipper Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh had already achieved their highest successful run chase in T20Is. However, there's no shame in accepting that they missed Shakib every bit, especially when it came to team balance. So the moment the 30-year-old arrived in Colombo, he replaced the young pacer Abu Hider. Shakib's addition didn't just add mystic powers to their middle orders but also got them four overs of assured bowling, something both Taskin Ahmed and Hider failed to provide in their attempts. Also when Mahmudullah led the team, he did so with a lot of grace, whereas Shakib's return as the skipper immediately injected a fresh sense of confidence in the body language. And even if it went unnecessarily overboard in that game against Sri Lanka, Shakib's presence meant that Bangladesh had that added belief all the time. He couldn't do much with the bat but with the ball, he returned figures of 1 for 9 and 1 for 28 in the two games he played.

There's indeed something about Shakib that spurs the team on.

Over-reliance on Tamim Iqbal is a topic of the past? No.

Tamim got starts in all games, including a couple of good scores too - 47 & 50. As he never went scouring for runs on the tour, it was this reassuring force that allowed Bangladesh to experiment with Liton Das as his fellow opener. If the move failed, Soumya Sarkar could move back at the top. However, it is always riding on Tamim's shoulders that Bangladesh played their calculated gamble of opening with Liton against Sri Lanka. It worked wonders but there was a quiet 47 off 29 balls scored by the left-hander himself.

AND AT LAST INDIA WINS THE TRI-SERIES