"It was really tough to watch the Test from the dressing room. I have been out early in many innings and that was always painful. But today the pain is different," said the 32-year-old.

Bashar has played in all of Bangladesh's previous 30 Tests but his injured right thumb meant he would have to miss his 31st appearance.

Commenting on first day's proceedings, Bashar, who scored five out of Bangladesh's eight Test centuries, said that the slowness of the wicket contributed to the fall of so many wickets.

"If you look at statistics we have performed better on faster wickets. The reason for that is most of the players like to play shots. But here the nature of the pitch is slow and turns very early. It demands a lot of concentration and application," he said adding he would have been happy had Mohammad Ashraful completed only his second Test century and Alok Kapali stayed at the wicket till the end of play.

NO MORE SECRET SELECTIONS!
It is not uncommon for the Bangladesh think-tank to play hide and sick while announcing the team for any international match.

And in keeping with their funny policy, the selectors kept everybody in the dark about the final eleven for the first Test against New Zealand. While the Black Caps at least revealed their twelve the night before the match, our selectors led by Faruque Ahmed unnecessarily tried to hide the worst kept secret.

However, in an attempt to appease frustrated reporters, BCB president Ali Asghar yesterday assured that he would take steps to announce the team at least a day before the match, if it was decided.

"I promise that next time the team will be announced a day before any game," he said.

But history suggests that whenever a promise is made it is broken. Let's see if Asghar keeps his word before the second Test in Chittagong starting on October 26.

WE ARE STILL HERE
Maybe the Tigers are going through a tough patch and it looks like they are heading for yet another defeat in the first Test against New Zealand. But they can always count on one thing -- their passionate home fans.

Nowhere in the world would you find such avid followers and yesterday was no exception as nearly 9,000-strong spectators turned up at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on the opening day.

"I'm least worried at the early loss of wickets. We always do it. But it's the hope of better things that keeps me wanting to come to see the team in action. I'm a firm believer that the boys will do something extraordinary on a given day," said Arman Ali from Badda, who has never missed the chance to watch a cricket match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in the last six years.

Although there were fears of low a turn out, especially after Bangladesh lost three wickets with only five runs on the board, but that did not stop the crowd coming to the ground as the game progressed.

And that was music to the ticket touts' ears. Believe it or not, like the vegetable markets where recently prices have shot up with the start of Holy Ramadan, tickets too were selling for double their original price.