The home series against the number one team got off to a remarkable start when Habibul Bashar's men stunned the world coming tantalisingly close against Ricky Ponting's men at Fatullah to recording the biggest upset in Test cricket.

The Tigers' performance was however not noteworthy in the second Test and the first one-dayer against the mighty Australians relative to their incredible first Test showing.

But what actually marred the port city party was the off-the-field affairs. Bangladesh Cricket Board's (BCB) apathetic and mysterious role towards the police atrocities on journalists and local organisers' malfunctioning already established a bad impression over the new venue.

Of course only a roaring efforts by the Tigers could have made amends for the shameful off-field incident but it was not the case at all.

There was evidence in Chittagong that Bangladesh batting returned to its own way, which actually hindered them to be more competitive against the world champions.

Like the first Test, Bangladesh also took the second Test into the fifth day before suffering an innings and 80-run defeat but rain was actually the main reason behind it.

Bangladesh started the Chittagong-leg on the wrong foot when they were shot out for 197 runs in the first innings of the second Test and although their second innings was a little better (304), it was mainly due to a late surge by Mohammad Rafique.

On Sunday in the first one-day international, the Tigers batsmen once again showed that they were yet to learn from their old mistakes.

Mohammad Ashraful and Aftab Ahmed, two of the most talented batsmen in the team, frustrated most in the series, especially the former's poor showing after an unimpressive performance against lowly Kenya made many believe that he is in need of a rest.

The 21-year old Ashraful, who had smashed a hundred to make history in Cardiff and showed some consistency during the home series against Sri Lanka, was totally out of sort in the series as he made 29, 4, 6 and 29 in the four innings while scoring only five runs in the first one-dayer. The way he threw his wickets has forced the team management to think about his place for the remaining two one-dayers on April 26 and 28 at Fatullah.

Chief selector Faruque Ahmed however declined to make any comment over the whisperings that Ashraful was going to miss the last two one-day matches.

"It was nice to see him perform during home series against Sri Lanka. But he was struggling since Kenya tour and his inconsistency gap widened in the series. I can't comment right at the moment weather a break will be helpful for him or not," said Faruque.

The former national skipper agreed that batsmen made the same mistakes in Chittagong but he was not ready to accept that there were no positive things in the team performance in Chittagong.

"Compared with the Fatullah Test, you will surely find a lot of loopholes in Chittagong. Our batsmen repeated past errors and failed to realise their game. Still I found a lot of positives in both the Test and one-day matches," he said.

"Still we have a long way to go to establish ourselves as a competitive side but there was an evidence in the series that we are gradually improving in this level and at least a little bit settled as a team. The way we defended a small total in the first limited-overs match gave the clear indication of an improving side," he explained.

Faruque was hopeful about the remaining two one-day games. "I am hopeful of watching a much better performance in the last two one-day game to finish the series on a high."