'No point in playing Tests like this'

The ongoing home series against Zimbabwe, Test cricket's lowest-ranked side, was seen as the perfect platform for Bangladesh to test the depth of the team in the longest format of the game as they were playing without two of their most experienced cricketers in Test and T20I Shakib Al Hasan and opener Tamim Iqbal.

But from start to finish Bangladesh looked like underdogs on their own soil. The team selection was an early sign of their muddled mindset as they opted for only one seamer, and coach Steve Rhodes admitted on Monday that they were not able to read the pitch properly. Most costly however was the inability of the batsmen to adapt to the style of Test cricket as they crumpled to a comprehensive 151-run defeat in the first Test at the Sylhet International Stadium yesterday.

The batsmen were unable to post 200 runs for their eighth consecutive innings as they were bundled out for 143 and 169 runs while being totally outclassed in the span of three and a half days.

"It's hard to explain such a batting display but I can say one thing -- we were unable to display the amount of discipline required in Test cricket. The wicket was pretty good even today [Tuesday] and maybe one or two balls did turn a bit. I think we need to work on the discipline issue more and have to increase the self-belief as our batting has not been good for quite some time now," a dejected Mahmudullah told reporters after the defeat yesterday.

Bangladesh had started the day needing to score 295 to win with two days in hand and all wickets intact, but the batsmen seemed to be caught between batting time and going for runs. Mahmudullah said that the plan was to remain positive and look to win the game but the manner of dismissals was disappointing.

"On quite a few occasions, the way we got out was pretty lame and it made us look bad, which is not right, especially in Test cricket. We have to talk to each individual about what they were actually thinking. We too don't like taking responsibility for such a batting failure as it's a matter of individual image and it's also about representing Bangladesh. Obviously, we want to give something back to Bangladesh," he said.

Mahmudullah disagreed when asked whether Test cricket had taken a back seat in the frenzy surrounding the upcoming World Cup, but admitted that batting failures have become a huge concern. There were a lot of questions about selection and the decision to have just one seamer in the line up, but Mahmudullah backed the decision and focused on the batting failure.

At one point, however, the stand-in captain apologised for the disappointing show from his team and said that he hoped to make a comeback in the next Test.

"As a captain and as a player, it's hard to accept such defeats as the spectators come to watch us play well. We were unable to perform and we apologise for that. We always hope that they will continue to support us as they have till now. Bangladesh did manage to come back hard from tough situations in the past," he added.