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’Sri Lanka was our worst’

Sports Reporter
Habibul Bashar’s men got a cold reception when they relumed home yesterday after a month-long tour in Sri Lanka where they lost both the one-day andTest scries badly.
Media manager Mohsena Hassan was the lone noticeable representative from the Board present at the Zia International Airport when tlie mentally and physically bruised Tigers came out of a Thai Airways flight at around 12 noon.
There was also no curious cricket fan or Board high-up that were plenty in number when the Bangladesh team returned home in July after a mouth-watering one-day triumph against world champions Australia in England.
And like the previous occasion coach Dav Whatmore did not accompany the team as his wish to stay a few more days with his family hi Sri Lanka was granted by the Board.
In Whatmore's absence Bangladesh captain Bashar had to bear the brunt of the reporters to whom he admitted that tlie Sri
Lanka tour was the worst since he took over tlie helm from Khaled Mahmud in January2004.
"It is very much part of our life. But I believe both tlie players and the management should take equal responsibility for the team's bad performance. 1 must say it was the worst tour since I look over captaincy," said a pent-up Bashar.
He however was little affected by the lukewarm reception rather he was looking forward to the coming
domestic competition to find a way out to rectify the common mistakes his team has been committing time and again. Bashar scored one of the two fifties on the whole tour in which batsmen were involved in a mad race of throwing their wickets in each game.
"We should devote our entire efforts to finding out how we can rectify our mistakes and 1 think the domestic competitions will be an
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ideal platform to correct those flaws.
"It is nice that there are no international fixtures for the next five months. We will able to play in domestic matches uninterruptedly. We have also discussed our domes-dc matches in a lengthy team meeting. We set individual targets for players in the local matches and everybody now realises that there is no alternative to a competitive domestic structure to survive at the highest level," said Bashar.
The 33-year-old also admitted the performance graph took a nosedive in Sri Lanka and 'it was an empty-handed return.'
The Bangladesh captain said that the Sri Lanka debacle was more to do with the mental aspect of the players rather than their technical abilities.
"I think mental attitude was the main reason behind the disaster. I
don't understand why a team showed such a uninspiring performance after a great victory in England," hesaid.
He however expressed his satisfaction over the Board’s decision to name captains fora certain period.
"Now it gives me an official authority to supervise players' performances at every level. I think the Board has taken a very positive decision about the captaincy," he added.
Asked to comment on whether his team achieved any positives from the tour. Bashar said that rookie pacemen Shahadal Hossain Rajlb and Syed Rasel impressed him most.
"To be honest we returned home without any achievement but it will silly if I undermine the effort of the two youngbowlers who played their heart out in the absence of the frontlinepacers."