I am a fan of Mohammad Ashraful, and after the World Cup I was waiting for the time when he would replace the former skipper and employ a new strategy and approach to the game. We lacked good positive, effective leadership in our cricket and his captaincy was expected to bring better results for us. I know we are not among the top Test sides, but I am well aware that we have some very gifted players. I believe teams like the West Indies, New Zealand and Pakistan at the moment have similar strength as far as Test cricket is concerned. My guess is that doing good in cricket is not about having superb players, but about captaincy, strategy, motivation, devotion, application and team work, and above all, managing the existing resources well!

But I felt embarrassed to see the Tigers lose in such an unprofessional manner. They posted a very low total in their first innings, and that too not for excellent bowling but for poor shot selections, something Mohammad Ashraful said they would try to avoid. They lost in three days and half an hour! Poor show.

None of his 'promises' made by the captain after the debacle in the first Test were reflected in their approach to the game, the worst of it is that Mohammad Ashraful failed to lead by example. He talked about loss of concentration. Why would Bangladeshi players lose concentration?

Cricket is their life, and there are many areas where they should concentrate on improving. They have every back-up required (think about WI players; Lara said why would they play with motivation and concentration, they don't get a salary)! So why on earth would our players lose concentration? What are they there for?

I think it's high time we stop singing for them, and stop patting them on the back when they fail. They are the most beloved and privileged children of Bangladesh, and yet they don't play with any respect whatsoever for the game and their fans. They play according to their whims!

I also think it is time we critically looked at the non-performing or non-contributing players and BCB seriously started thinking what to do with them. In fact, the selectors and BCB have many questions to answer....I am not satisfied with them as well. We do not have 'Justin Langer' or 'Damien Martin' culture in our cricket --- nobody wants to leave even if it is clear that they are a burden, and they need to make way for newcomers. Until they are axed, they won't leave. But our cricket is not a testing lab for any particular individual. If someone wants to regain form, there is the First Division League.

We give chance after chance to players who are close to their retirement age, and wait, because once upon a time they played some good innings, scored some runs etc.

Can we afford that?