There were dull days for the Tigers in Colombo following their humiliating defeats in the first two Tests which they lost almost without any fight and the visit to the hill capital of Sri Lanka gave them some much-needed relief to recover from the disappointments.

The Tigers are accommodated in the picturesque Mahaweli Reach Hotel in a quiet and homely atmosphere.

Soon after their arrival, the visitors took part in a swimming session and after that some of the players, including Habibul Bashar, were in a hurry to get out to the city, which lies at an altitude of 1629 feet above sea level in the centre of the island and surrounded by mountains.

Like Bashar, it was a first visit for many in this world heritage city as Bangladesh are going to play their first Test match in the home city of spin wizard Muttiah Muralidaran and Kumar Sangakkara.

Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful was one of few in the team like Rajin Saleh who had earlier visited the city as they were part of the Under-19 World Cup side in 2000.

"I didn't play any match here as I was the 12th man in the semifinal against Namibia. Actually I was too young then but now I am the captain of the team," said Ashraful with a smile on his face, as he enhanced his reputation against Sri Lanka by hitting his fourth Test hundred in the second Test at the P Sara Stadium.

However, veteran left-arm spinner Mohammad Rafique got an unkind welcome in Kandy as a large number of monkeys were hanging around his windows once he entered his room. "They just attacked me once I entered my room. Hotel authority immediately dispersed them by shooting blanks," said Rafique, who was slightly disturbed by the incident.

Besides the monkey attack, Rafique had the disappointment with his performance in the series in mind.

"So far it has been my worst-ever performance in Test cricket. I bowled 35 overs in the last Test without any success," said Rafique who came here seven wickets short of becoming the first Bangladeshi to take 100 Test wickets.

The wily left-arm spinner took only one wicket in the first Test giving away 138 runs and hardly has any chance to redeem himself as the Kandy wicket is always preferable for the seam bowlers.

"Murali can turn the ball on glass, so the condition doesn't matter to him. But bowlers of our calibre should get some assistance from the wicket which was also not the case in the first two Tests and I think it will be the same here," said Rafique, who expressed his desire to not be considered for the one-day series due to a family commitment.

"I think if our batsmen are able to manage at least 300 runs, then it could have been a different story for the bowlers. Actually the Sri Lankan batsmen played us freely after our poor scores in both the first innings. Another reason is that we played too many one-day games in the last year. We have to work hard to get our basics right in Test cricket," he said while explaining the reasons behind the failure in the series.

"You know Sri Lanka knew everything about our strengths because we played too many Test matches against them," he added.

Rafique also explained his frustration as a batsman coming in later.

"I had to face the new ball in the last two matches but the reality is that I have hardly practiced against the new ball which I think was the main reason behind my batting failure. But what I can assure you is that I have always tried my best," he said.