Teams tinkering with tactics or playing eleven while building up to a tournament of ICC World Cup's magnitude is quite common. Experiments, by definition, can go either way, but it is rarely seen that a successful move can even end up backfiring.

Bangladesh, of late, have been on the receiving end of such an outcome, if team director Khaled Mahmud Sujon's opinion is taken into account.

No matter how unusual it may seem, Mehedi Hasan Miraz's impressive show as a make-shift opener in the Asia Cup -- where he came up with a century against Afghanistan -- has somehow introduced more problems that it solved.

Based on Bangladesh's three outings in the flagship event so far, top-order failure has remained a standout feature of the Shakib Al Hasan-led side, leading to the constant shuffling in the batting order deemed as the primary reason of downfall.

"I'm not saying Miraz is our main batter but he has come a long way. But since we promoted Miraz at the top to preserve our wickets, I think that backfired for us," Mahmud said yesterday, referring to the fact that Miraz was demoted to bat down the order before returning to number three, where he produced a fifty against Afghanistan in Bangladesh's tournament opener.

According to the former Bangladesh captain, players like Najmul Hossain Shanto -- who scored heavily at number three in the past year -- have not voiced their discomfort over the batting-order shuffle.

"I think there wouldn't have been any problem if Miraz batted in his usual batting position, then Shanto, Shakib, [Towhid] Hridoy and Mushfiqur [Rahim] would follow the openers in the batting order. Maybe then Miraz or Mahmudullah batted at number seven and eight. As I said Miraz scored a hundred in the Asia Cup at the top-order and he also scored runs in a few matches and he was in form," Mahmud added.

Although Mahmud opined that it is ideal to have a specialist batter for a specific position, he also said that it is the coach and captain's call eventually.

"As we know in ODIs, there are situations which demand that we shuffle the batting order. If I talk about Miraz and Shanto, basically the coach and captain felt that they took the left-and-right-hand combination in mind. Maybe it's unnecessary at times."

In similar circumstances, Towhid Hridoy is another batter who suffered a dip in form, after having shown promise at number five. He had to sacrifice his usual batting position to bat at number seven in three matches so far.

Mahmud continued, "If I talk about Hridoy's batting, since Shakib is batting at number five and Mushy at six, so Hridoy or Mahmudullah will ultimately come at number seven or eight which is normal.

"We are playing with an extra batter and five bowlers, and this explains the batting order. Again, it would be good if the batters can bat in their usual positions. But again, as Shanto scored a hundred in the Asia Cup while batting at number four, this is not a big reason," he said.

Mahmud's observations about their batting failure revealed a lack of clarity in the planning department. Now we have to wait and watch if the team management solves their unique challenge with another unique approach or sticks to the basics.