After the blustery post-match press conference with questions predominantly of uncomfortable sort, Daniel Vettori mournfully accepted that these three losses against Bangladesh have been a major blow to his captaincy.
"Every loss puts a lot of pressure on the captaincy," was Vettori's simple reply to this correspondent.
Poignantly, Vettori said during the course of the post-match talk that the fifth and final one-dayer on Sunday would be a must-win game for the Kiwis.
"It is international cricket, so you are playing for your country and that's what you have to do, you have to pick yourself up. This is a must-win game every time you play so that's how the team has to think," admitted the bespectacled Black Caps captain.
It has been a bitter pill to swallow for one of the best all-rounders in world cricket and definitely, someone who has been probably the biggest performer in the team for several years.
But now that he has overseen three defeats to a team against whom they have dominated for so long, it must be a feeling that he has never been through before.
Vettori, who took over the captaincy full-time from Stephen Fleming in 2007, had never looked so forlorn in 13 years playing top-flight cricket. During this time his team came across 25 losses, but these three must have been the worst of them all.
His team suffered a 9-run loss in the first game, probably a shock result to most but when they were knocked off for a 7-wicket win in the third one-dayer, it was a wake-up call. But yesterday's defeat would rankle the team for a long time to come.
In his own words, Vettori said the collapse that felled his team to 80 for five in the 21st over was the turning point that led to the defeat.
"The difference was 80 for 5 and I think we put ourselves under so much pressure from there. I think 80-5, 100-5, 90-6 is the reason we are down 3-0," he said.
"It was a fantastic effort from the whole Bangladesh team and they have been outstanding in the field and with the ball, and they really taught us a lesson under these conditions," added Vettori.
The all-rounder had a lot of praise for his opposite number Shakib Al Hasan, who romped to a century and picked up three crucial wickets.
"They just play well, they play a lot better in their own conditions and they got some good players up their sleeves.
"Shakib has been outstanding in this series and he has led them exceptionally well and we just haven't adopted when put under pressure with the bat.
"I think they know the conditions well; I am pretty sure they got a lot of home games and got a great crowd support. The crowd was fantastic today even though we are on the losing side," said Vettori.
He also paid tribute to Kane Williamson who struck a maiden century in only his fifth game as a Black Cap.
"We have to take a lot of lessons from the way Kane played today, he was amazing and lot of our batsmen, lot of our more experienced batsmen can really take some in from him today," said Vettori in a calm tone but it would certainly put the message across to his misfiring batsmen.
The 31-year-old wasn't too concerned whatsoever that Williamson's selection only in the fourth game would be termed a mistake.
"It always looks big when someone gets a hundred. I think we backed our selections early on. It's not the right way of looking at it, we should just celebrate that," he said.