Despite starting the home series well by beating both Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka quite convincingly in the first two encounters of the tri-nation, Bangladesh faltered in the later stages and lost the tri-series and then the Test series against the Lankans.

And now, after losing the first T20I match against Sri Lanka, they are on the verge to lose the T20I series as well. This is something that has surprised former coach Chandika Hathurusingha. According to the current Sri Lanka boss, Bangladesh crumbled after a few failures—something that he didn’t expect to see from them.

‘I am surprised, to be honest.’

‘I am not saying that they were scared, but I think that they were they were brilliant at the beginning of the tri-nation series. Their intentions were clear at the time as they put the two opponents [Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka] under a lot of pressure.

‘After a few games, however, they started to doubt their abilities, especially after a few failures. To see them break down so fast was surprising for me.’

Knowing Hathurusingha, these might be carefully chosen words in order to play some mind games against the Bangladeshi players by putting them under pressure. Perhaps the excitement to play against a former coach was a bit too over-hyped by the fans and media alike.

As a result, it effected the players and they now find themselves on the brink of a series whitewash.