'Have to pick ourselves up'

'We were beaten in all three departments,' was Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hasan's succinct summary of their humiliating innings and 219-run defeat against West Indies in the first of a two-match Test series in Antigua.

"There are a lot of areas we need to work on in the next five days. It is very tough adapting to these conditions and we're not used to this. We need to mentally prepare ourselves in the next five days and be ready," he said. "It was very tough and we knew it was going to be tough. We have to work hard and pick ourselves up."

If the team's inability to adapt to the fast and seaming conditions in the island nation is really only a matter of mental strength, then surely it will be difficult for the visitors to overcome that hurdle in the span of just five days before they take on the hosts in the final Test, which begins on July 12 at the Sabina Park in Kingston.

When it comes to how Bangladesh put up their lowest ever score in Tests -- 43 runs in the first innings in the first Test -- as pacer Kemar Roach single handedly thrashed the Tigers' batting line-up by bagging five wickets, it was a sorry display from a team that seemed to have surrendered before the game was even finished.

Apart from mental strength, there seemed to be hardly any intent from the Bangladesh batsmen to stage a turnaround in the second innings, where the Tigers were bundled out on 144 after Nurul Hasan scored the fastest half century by a Bangladeshi batsman overseas.

From Tamim Iqbal to Shakib, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah Riyad none of the veteran batsmen made use of their vast experience.

Although Liton Das managed to survive Roach's thrashing on the other end, he too walked the same path, despite getting some satisfaction from scoring 25. Liton was the only batsman to reach double figures in the first innings but he ultimately threw away his wicket with a reckless shot.

There were talks about how leaving certain deliveries would be the key to negotiating the Caribbean conditions before the Bangladesh team even departed for the series. But interestingly, it was a rare sight to see the Tigers' batsmen leave a ball and watch it fly past the stumps.

For instance, Shakib was guilty of edging deliveries that were angled away from the fourth stump in both innings instead of leaving the ball. More importantly, it was in a situation where a sensible head in the middle was badly needed by the visitors.

It is not only how the Bangladeshi batsmen had mental blocks in the Antigua debacle but also how their inability to learn from past mistakes costs the Tigers whenever they play Test cricket in challenging conditions.

Although the batsmen were clearly not up to the mark, it is also easily forgotten that the bowlers were nowhere near as able as their counterparts when it came to utilising the green top.