His team has already conceded the ODI series going into the last match of the Bangladesh tour. But R Ashwin has every right to be pleased with his own bowling performance throughout the tour. The ball has been coming out well off his hand and he has been deceiving the batsmen in flight and with clever change in pace. In the one-off Test that was marred by rain, the off-spinner picked up his first five-wicket haul outside of India. In the context of the two ODIs Ashwin’s figures of 3 for 51 and 1 for 32 respectively, were worth their weight in gold. However, this individual success doesn’t give Ashwin much joy. “I have had a good series but it doesn’t amount to anything if you haven’t won anything,” he said ahead of the last match. “But moving forward, the good form and good rhythm is something I am really happy about.” This is their first bilateral series loss to Bangladesh and it is obviously a hard pill for India to swallow. But Ashwin said the team knows better than to sulk over it and they are now focusing all their energy in trying to win the last game. “Yes, we have lost the series but we will look to turn things around in this match”, he said. “It is very important to stay positive. They have played some good cricket and we will try to do our best. “We have had a quiet couple of days and everyone has tried to reflect upon what needs to be done. The mood in the team is a little better now and hopefully we will turn it around tomorrow.” Despite the disappointment of the loss, Ashwin said, it will be unfair on Bangladesh to write their win away as an upset. “Bangladesh have had a good momentum over the last year. They have gotten better and started winning games. You can’t take any credit away from them,” the Indian off-spinner said. “It looks like they own this ground and know what needs to be done. We certainly came up against a team that knew what they were doing. We have to be honest in admitting that we haven’t come out of our shell and played flamboyant cricket. “This is not the last team that Bangladesh has beaten. They are a good side and they are on the rise. They have beaten Pakistan, now us and when South Africa come here, they will fancy their chances against them too. They bided their time in international cricket and now they are on their way up. We can’t go back looking at this loss as an insult because it is not. A good side has beaten us. “So, losing the series to them is not the end of the world. It is hard for us at the moment but we can’t duck away from the fact that we have a game to go. We cannot throw in the towel,” Ashwin said. He described this series defeat as a bad end to a good season. “This is the end of the season for us and it will be nice to cap it off with a win. We have had a good season, winning about 75 per cent of the ODIs that we’ve played. We would like to end it with another win. “The dressing room atmosphere is no different to what it has been in the past. We do realise that we will lose a few and win more. That has kept us in good stead. Going into this game we really need to free the birds up and play as positively as we can,” he said. According to Ashwin, going forward, India should look to play a more “dynamic” brand of cricket. “We have to play very dynamic and exciting brand of cricket because that is the demand of the game right now,” he said. “ODI cricket has grown leaps and bounds. The lessons have to be learned by individuals. You can’t sit together as a group and say, ‘This is the lesson we have learnt’. It doesn’t work that way.” While giving the perspective of the series loss, Ashwin also put his weight behind captain MS Dhoni, defending him against the unfair media jibes. “He is the star of cricket. He is the legend of Indian cricket and has done so much for the nation,” Ashwin said of his captain. “We cannot forget what he has done. To hold him accountable for the whole team’s performance is not fair. We failed as a unit and we need to grow up as a group. “For me, a team is like an army. If you don’t go behind your leader you are definitely going to get shot. If my captain asks me to die on the field, I will do it,” Ashwin concluded.