Before the first Test against Zimbabwe, which started at the Sylhet International Cricket Stadium on Sunday, Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said that a new era for Bangladesh would begin with the match.
But the words of the captain turned out to be an empty speech as far as the performance of the team was concerned on the opening day.
Bangladesh were bundled out for 191 runs, which was the eighth out of 13 times that the Tigers were all out for a below 200-run score.
The opening partnership faltered again, as it did in recent times. However, the 31-run stand between Shadman Islam and Mahmudul Hasan was the highest in the last 12 innings.
That showed how poor the run is for Bangladesh in terms of batting in recent times.
Shanto, who himself indicated the fact that he was getting out after being set last year, fell victim to that cycle again as he threw his wicket away after making 40 runs.
Mushfiqur Rahim, who was playing his 95th Test, now hadn鈥檛 hit a fifty in 10 innings where he was dismissed. Mominul Haque, another veteran, also threw his wicket away after making a fifty.
The relatively young and the experienced ones, batters from both categories, once again failed to turn up for the team.
Mohammad Salahuddin, the senior assistant coach of the national team, thought that the batters made mistakes tactically.
鈥業 think we made some mistakes tactically,鈥� Salahuddin told reporters after the completion of the first day.
鈥楢nd on the mental aspect, we played some shots abruptly, like a batter was out after getting set. This is a mental setback. I think there are some lacking in following the routine. Like how to face each delivery and to stay in the routine. We鈥檝e to work quickly in this regard. The boys have to understand that,鈥� he added.
Salahuddin admitted that the wicket was not tricky to score and also said that the batters had been making the same mistake again and again.
He said, 鈥榃e have to find a way so that the boys can correct this quickly. I鈥檓 not saying it cannot be done, but it will have to be done fast.鈥�
He also reiterated the fact that there was no problem in terms of work ethics or something.
He said, 鈥楾he boys have been trying to 0change a lot in their mentalities. They鈥檙e aware of their self-improvement. Maybe we were very poor today, but it cannot be said they aren鈥檛 trying or they don鈥檛 have that intention to go to the next level.鈥�
鈥楤ut I think that we want to build something new, and we鈥檙e working on that. We are trying to improve. But I think our batting didn鈥檛 go well today, nor did the bowling. But we will try to be back in the match quickly,鈥� the coach added.
Salahuddin also mentioned that the problem wasn鈥檛 straightforward, as he thought that it was deep-rooted in the country鈥檚 cricket system.
He said, 鈥楢 cricket system of a country cannot be dependent on certain players. It depends on how your structure is and what challenges you faced to come so far. And to face that challenge, you鈥檝e to play a lot of cricket, whether it鈥檚 A-level cricket, domestic or at the national level.鈥�
鈥榊ou came from playing in the Premier League, where the wickets behave differently. Now you鈥檝e to play a different ball game. The cricket structure depends on how much challenge the boys face before coming to this level,鈥� he continued.
鈥榊ou can say the openers didn鈥檛 perform well in the last six Tests. Now you鈥檝e got to find some new boys, and it will take time to prepare him. Maybe we will give him time, thinking that it will work. But we have limited resources, and we also don鈥檛 want to think about what we don鈥檛 have. So we have to find a way quickly,鈥� he concluded.