Sports desk:

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Nazmul Hassan Papon was hurt by the manner in which the national team lost the first cricket Test against Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh failed to go past 200 runs in both innings of the Test, a thing that was instrumental in their crushing 328-run defeat.

“We are not concerned by the defeat but the manner in which they lost the game is questionable. Their shot selection was horrible and things looked like that they don’t want to play Test cricket. We are hurt by this mentality,” Papon said here today after a T10 exhibition match to mark the country’s Independence Day.

The shot that Liton Das and captain Najmul Hossain Shanto played in the fourth innings, when Bangladesh were chasing an improbable 511-run target, created a massive uproar.

“When you play Test cricket, you can’t play such type of shot. This sort of shot, this type of mindset doesn’t go with the Test cricket. They are not kids that they are being forced to play Test cricket. Everyone knows what Test cricket means. That’s why it hurts.”

But Nazmul Hassan Papon, also the mister of the youth and sports ministry, believes it will take time for the young team to get their feet in the Test cricket as they have been in a transition period in this format following the absence of some senior players.

Bangladesh played the first Test against Sri Lanka without any senior players for the first time in some years.

While Mahmudullah Riyad had already retired from the Test cricket, Shakib Al Hasan skipped the first Test due to eye problem. Mushfiqur Rahim though was in the squad, he had to be sidelined at the eleventh hour due to injury and Tamim Iqbal has been out of the national team due to personal reason for quite some times.

“There is nothing to feel good after losing a match but we are not worried about win or loss. A team naturally struggles for four or five years when the experienced cricketers left the team,” Papon said.

“They are playing a Test for the first time in some years where there were no senior players. Secondly the wicket was different. We are playing on a different wicket as part of our future plan. Because we have taken a step to go to the next stage, so we changed the wicket. So in that sense, win or loss was not important for us,” he added.

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