"I think we should be starting as favourites to win the ODI series against Pakistan. I think this is our best chance to win against Pakistan. Everyone in the team believes so, too."

Bangladesh captain Shakib al Hasan's statement in the lead up to the series may have come as a surprise to many, but anyone who follows the game closely knew he was absolutely spot on with his assessment of the Pakistan side and his team's prospects against them.

Bangladesh's fairly sedate celebrations after beating Azhar Ali's team by 79-runs in the first ODI on Friday did not reflect the fact that this was their first triumph over their much-decorated counterparts in 16 years! It wasn't because the win did not mean anything to them. It was because the result was expected. It was expected even before a single delivery was bowled at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

While some cushion must be provided to a team in transition, Azhar and the team management seem to be following the same confused strategy which has seen the Pakistani team slip drastically in the ODI rankings.

It starts with the selection of the playing XI.

Before the start of the series, new skipper Azhar Ali said Pakistan 'would keep pace with modern' cricket as it turned a new chapter.

Yet this is what the team for the first ODI looked like:

Mohammad Hafeez, Azhar Ali (capt), Haris Sohail, Saad Nasim, Mohammad Rizwan, Fawad Alam, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), Wahab Riaz, Junaid Khan, Saeed Ajmal, Rahat Ali

It wouldn't be wrong to say Hafeez, Azhar, Haris and Fawad are all batsmen in the same mould. There are being supplemented by newcomers Rizwan and Nasim, the latter hardly qualifying as an 'all-rounder' good enough for the 50 over game. Then there's Sarfraz, who seems to carrying the weight of expectation every time he bats now.

New names but same old skin

The combined strike-rate of the five established players of the seven mentioned above is 75. Pedestrian by 'modern' standards. It doesn't take much science to conclude that this batting line would not only struggle in a big chase but it would also take a very special effort by them to put up a total considered competitive by modern standards.

A new team usually takes time to get into rhythm. But is Pakistan giving itself the best chance to succeed?

Is Haris Sohail not guilty of the same offence as Umar Akmal? Granted the latter has been given way too many opportunities. Pakistan have now lost 10 ODIs despite three or more 50-plus scores in their innings. When will the rookies learn the value of getting a start and kicking on?

Is there not a confusion in the team management as to who the 'accumulators' are and where the 'impetus' will come from? The batting order is epitome of this muddled thinking.

Now to field placement and bowling changes.

"I think our approach is straightforward, simple for the last three games: go out there, be positive, and especially when you are there to bowl, just try to get wickets," Misbah-ul-Haq responded when asked how Pakistan had turned things around at the 2015 World Cup.

If Azhar was watching carefully, the one thing Misbah had changed from the earlier stages of the tournament was his fields which complimented his bowlers' appetite for wickets. There were no 'run-leaking-middle-stages' and there was a constant barrage after Pakistan got breakthroughs. There was no let up.

Compare that to Friday, there were two occasions where Bangladesh lost a wicket and a bowling change soon followed. Men prowling in the ring, wicket-takers operating at crucial stages; it is the most obvious strategy so clinically executed by Australia in the field. Pakistan could do well to emulate the intensity of the Aussies. It's there every single game, even against lesser sides.

The fact that there were only four survivours from Pakistan's World Cup squad in the team that played Bangladesh was being emphasised constantly by commentators. A young sprightly unit it should have been. But a couple of dropped catches later yet it was clear that Misbah, Afridi and Younis were still Pakistan's most efficient fielders.

The second ODI on Sunday will be the new generation's first real test. How the captain and the kids respond will make for an interesting few hours. They find themselves in the same position their opponents were many years ago.

Now, Bangladesh are already thinking of a whitewash.