Stumped, bewildered, perplexed - these are some of the words that can perhaps best describe the emotions of Bangladesh's cricket fans after their side's batting debacle in the first innings at Arnos Vale in St Vincent on Sunday.

When a team fumbles to a score below 200, the instinctive reaction is that the conditions were perhaps not suitable for batting. However, those who stayed up past midnight to watch Bangladesh's innings can immediately dismiss that notion.

Why would Tamim Iqbal play an aggressive drive in only the fourth over? Was it absolutely necessary for Nasir Hossain to go down the track? Questions such as these reverberated on Monday morning after the Tigers were dismissed in less than a day.

For the fans, unfortunately, an answer has yet to be found.

The wicket at Arnos Vale, apart from providing some slow turn, barely had anything in it for the bowlers. In fact for patches of the match it seemed like Bangladesh were playing at Mirpur, with pacers barely getting any assistance. Mashrafe Bin Mortaza upon his return to the country did state that the wickets in the West Indies resembled that of Bangladesh's.

So despite having the advantage of playing in relatively familiar conditions, why did Bangladesh falter so badly? For starters ten out of the eleven batsmen can be questioned for their batting technique.

Both Tamim and Imrul Kayes played away from their body whilst the ball was still new and moving and paid the price. Shamsur Rahman did go on to score a 35 but looked vulnerable almost throughout his 95-ball innings. He frequently played away from his body and two of the five boundaries that he hit were almost caught at slip.

It therefore was not a surprise when he eventually was held at second slip off Suleiman Benn. He was dismissed in a similar fashion in the second innings yesterday as well. He merely swung his bat, without moving his feet at all, at a half-volley and got caught behind.

The decision to send in Mahmudullah Riyad, who has scored just 30-odd runs in his last sixTest innings, ahead of Nasir Hossain and Mushfiqur Rahim was questionable to say the least And as expected, he was outdone by part-timer Jermaine Blackwood, who got a wicket in his very first over in Test cricket.

If Riyad seemed clueless, Nasir appeared to be overconfident. His attempt to dispatch Blackwood down the ground for a six, which eventually cost his wicket, was not required and proved that the batsman's most talked about ability - the skill to absorb pressure - is on the decline.

Mominul Haque, albeit for a brief period, provided the slightest of hopes through his cautious half-century. However, his unnecessary glance down the leg-side which led to his wicket proves that he is far from his best form.

Mushfiqur was perhaps the only batsman who managed to apply himself appropriately. However, as a captain he should have taken the responsibility and promoted himself up the order. There's not much that the best batsman of a dwindling batting order can do when he comes in to bat at number six.

It's always a quandary when half the players of your side are not performing, let alone 90 per cent of it. But it's one such quandary that the Bangladesh Cricket Board needs to address as soon as possible. The series has already seen a host of tactical errors from Mushfiqur and co and the board needs to consider this series as a clarion call forsome assertive changes.