His presence in the team has always made a big difference but unfortunately for the first time in his career there has been whispering over his keenness and involvement in the ongoing series although he is vice-captain of the team.

It was not because that he disappointed everybody with his performance both with the bat and ball but rather his uncaring attitude in the series. Many were surprised because it is something that has been hardly experienced before.

Many believe that Mashrafe has to come out with his best if Bangladesh wants to do something special in the three-match one-day series to put aside their heartbreaking Test performance.

The Bangladesh vice-captain however himself was aware of the fact that the question was raised about his effort levels in the disastrous Test series but had his own explanations.

"This kind of question arises only when you don't perform well. But what I must agree with is that I have suffered from a lack of confidence in the series and what I felt is that I was a little bit tired because of too much cricket for the last two years," defended the "Narail Express", who even played the Afro-Asia Cup in India before the series.

The pace spearhead bowled 73 overs to take three wickets in the Test series and scored only 23 runs in six innings although he made many believe that he has got the ability to contribute with the bat especially after two half centuries against India in the last series at home.

"I know my performance was not up to the mark. I am also frustrated with my performance because I had a lot of expectation after I missed the last series in Sri Lanka due to injury. But it was not so easy to bowl well against this kind of batting line-up and the conditions were also not in favour of bowlers in the first two games," he said.

"And it always puts pressure on the bowlers when their side is bowled out cheaply in the first innings. But what I realized after the series is that I have to develop the reverse swing in my bowling otherwise it will be impossible to get success with the old ball and I have already talked with Malinga (Lasith) about the matter," he added.

Many criticized Mashrafe after he declared that it is impossible for him to handle bowlers like Muttiah Muralidaran, who will not available for the one-day series for the home side.

"I still believe that I lack the necessary skill in my batting to handle this kind of bowler. You must understand that there is a big difference in the bowling strength of India and Sri Lanka. And most importantly I don't want to give too much emphasis on my batting because I still have to work hard on my bowling. Just think that I have yet to get five wickets in the Test," he replied.

Mashrafe, who played 25 Tests and 68 one-day matches, however was not ready to rank their just concluded Test performance as the worst one.

"I don't think so because our performance in New Zealand and England tours were worse. We actually need some time to emerge as a competitive side in Test cricket," he observed.

Mashrafe promised that he will come up with a much better performance in the one-day series to silence the critics.

"As a team we are a thousand times better in one-day cricket than the Test cricket. So you will see a different Bangladesh in the series although it will not be so easy because Sri Lanka is very strong opponents," he said.