It's not like we meet the relentless leg-pulling with desperate excuses, we rather meditate into an attitude based on the 'truth'. History mercifully lends a hand by pointing out that no Test babes -- save the Ashes rivals -- started winning right away. The common protective shields are: we're losing Tests but not inside three days anymore; we're getting past lowest recorded innings totals each time we bat; our batsmen are getting hundreds and bowlers are getting wickets on foreign grounds; we don't drop every other catch and often field like a bunch of Jontys; and no matter how hard he tried, Hayden couldn't score his 380 against us.

Plainly put, our learning curve is definitely moving upwards; a reasoning corroborated by the meanest bigwigs of the game. Not to mention we nearly had our first Test win almost in pocket very recently. Hence, it was not wishful thinking that history might be in the making when the Tigers took on the British Lions on our own turf.

But the cricket gods were unsympathetic and our worst fears started turning real by the end of the third day of Dhaka Test. And the reality was sickening on the fourth afternoon of Chittagong Test. Suddenly, the Tigers, the constant recipients of our undiluted praise, had us searching for new shields to hide behind.

Our trusted navigator, Dave Whatmore, was quick to say that this was not the time to criticise but to keep backing the team through the troubled times. Well, we shall continue to do so till death, but that shouldn't mean we can't voice the questions that eat into our hearts.

What was the Tigers' mindset? Game plan? Forget the statistics or the fact that we once again lost with a whole session to spare on the fourth day (Chittagong Test), what the Tigers unacceptably lacked was self-belief. For it is futile to go into combat, no matter how sound your strategy or technique is, if you are not convinced deep down that you can actually win.

The 'Black Bradman', as the great Windies batsman George Headley was known, said somewhere that cricket is a 'mixture of football and chess'. Judging from the perspective of an ex-cricketer, I doubt if he could define the game any better. 'Glorious uncertainty' being the phenomenon beyond control, the team that triumphs in the end does so with a superior combination of presence of mind, honed skills and physical fitness. Far too often, its mental agility, fierce intent and steely nerves that decide matches between sides that seem even on skill. In both Tests against the Lions, Bangladesh batsmen invariably found themselves in situations where they had to stay at the wicket and play out time. Tigers goofed it in each of these circumstances, big time. Rajin Saleh and his mates might've felt they have made a statement of commitment by taking repeated bruising body blows from the English quickies; but having done so, each of them inexplicably threw his wicket away with needlessly expensive and definitely 'nothing' shots.

What was the point of enduring the initial hardship then? Having weathered the onslaught of Lee, Shoaib and the rest, Tigers had us expecting at least the semblance of an organised effort, may be a session-to-session plan of action which might have been apparent whenever they batted. Sadly, all that was apparent was the Tigers' indifference towards their collective 'no show'. Okay, so we lose the Test-heartache fast enough and start dreaming of a decent show in the ODIs. All we get are scores of 143, 139 and 183!

What's next, Whatmore? If it is motivation that the Tigers lack, then they should know beyond the scope of doubt that each time they take the field, 140 million people pray their throats dry for them. In fact, Tigers enjoy a place in our hearts that is usually reserved for our gallant freedom fighters. And it's not as though we want the Tigers to be ready to give their lives for the country; we don't even mind when they lose. We just want the Tigers to assume a genuine mindset of "no surrender, no retreat". That can't be too much to ask for, can it be?