Bangladesh’s spin-bowling coach Rangana Herath speaks to media on the eve of their third and final ODI against England on Sunday. CHATTOGRAM: England arrived in Chattogram on Saturday ahead of their final fixture in the inaugural — and only — edition of the ICC’s ODI Super League. On Monday (today), they are looking to secure a three-nil series win, thereby becoming the first team to secure an away ODI series whitewash in Bangladesh since Sri Lanka in 2014. The Super League, the qualifying process for the 2023 World Cup in India, launched in 2020 with the lofty, noble aim to “raise the stakes of bilateral 50-over games”, according to the ICC at the time. The idea was simple enough. World Cup qualification had generally been decided on the opaque rankings system. Commercially-driven boards had no competitive incentive to schedule ODI series evenly, so top teams scheduled long series which were largely devoid of context against one another, rarely deigning to play emerging nations. The fixture list was imperfect — each team was scheduled to play eight opponents out of a possible twelve — but still generated series that might never have happened otherwise. The Netherlands hosted West Indies, England, Pakistan and New Zealand in a single summer. Ireland turned West Indies over in the Caribbean. Zimbabwe played Australia in a bilateral ODI series for the first time in 18 years – and won the third game. For Ireland, South Africa and Sri Lanka — who, along with West Indies, are jostling to avoid June’s qualification tournament in Zimbabwe by securing the final automatic World Cup spot — the final months of the Super League represent a vital opportunity. But for the rest, they are an irrelevance. As the qualification cycle draws towards a close, it is clear that market forces have overtaken the ICC’s ambitions: several series have now been abandoned as a result of franchise cricket’s squeeze on the international calendar, and the Super League has been scrapped altogether. “Since each point matters, there will be no dead rubbers and teams will always have to be at their very best,” the ICC said in 2020. Monday’s game in Chattogram is a direct riposte. In the spotlight are Litton Das and Rehan Ahmed: Litton Das was the leading run-scorer for BPL champions Comilla Victorians and is long established as Tamim Iqbal’s opening partner in ODIs. But he has not got going in this series, scratching around for 7 off 15 in the first game before chopping his first ball to point in the second. He has now gone five ODI innings in a row without reaching 50, and could do with a score in Chattogram. If not now, when? Rehan Ahmed, the 18-year-old legspinning allrounder, is England’s long-term replacement for Adil Rashid and could win his first white-ball cap on Monday. The deadest of rubbers provides the ideal low-stakes opportunity for him to make his debut, and his ability with the bat means he could even play alongside Rashid if conditions suit. Mustafizur Rahman looked out of sorts and short on confidence in Mirpur, bowling 18 wicketless overs and leaking 5.83 an over, making him the most expensive bowler on either side. If Bangladesh decide to change things up, he could give way for Ebadot Hossain or Hasan Mahmud. The uncapped Towhid Hridoy is the squad’s spare batter. Reece Topley is likely to play for the first time in the series, with England rotating their seam attack throughout the tour. England do not have a spare batter with them and appear unlikely to change the balance. It is feasible that Jos Buttler could borrow an idea from Eoin Morgan’s playbook, resting himself to give Will Jacks an opportunity at No. 5; that would mean handing the reins to Moeen Ali, and the gloves to Phil Salt. Squads: Bangladesh (possible): 1 Tamim Iqbal (capt), 2 Litton Das, 3 Najmul Hossain Shanto, 4 Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Mahmudullah, 7 Afif Hossain, 8 Mehidy Hasan Miraz, 9 Taskin Ahmed, 10 Taijul Islam, 11 Ebadot Hossain/Hasan Mahmud. England (possible): 1 Jason Roy, 2 Phil Salt, 3 Dawid Malan, 4 James Vince, 5 Jos Buttler (capt/wk), 6 Will Jacks, 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Rehan Ahmed, 10 Jofra Archer, 11 Reece Topley.