The Sri-Lanka born Australian has been a father figure for his charges and has defended his notoriously undisciplined batsmen with utmost conviction. But it appears now that his good intentions have backfired as the Tigers' batters are acting like spoilt brats.

Yesterday's terrible batting collapse against England at Chittagong was another example of carelessness and lack of pride that has become an unfortunate trait for Bangladesh in one-day internationals. Which is rather inexplicable, as they are not novices in this form of the game. It was Bangladesh's 80th one-day international and any excuses of inexperience just don't hold water.

The likes of Habibul Bashar and Alok Kapali haven't shown any signs of learning from their repeated mistakes. Bashar has continued to play outrageously ambitious strokes without any regard for the need of the team while Kapali is struggling to cope with his talent. That attitude has become infectious with even Rajin Saleh trying to bat without a care in the world!

More than anything, the team composition for the first ODI prompted more questions than answers. Three young cricketers were given their debuts, which was a mind-boggling decision.

Nafees Iqbal, who had a frantic flight home from Pakistan, only arrived in Chittagong on Thursday afternoon. So, the team think-tank's logic behind sending him to open the batting only hours later can only be termed over-enthusiastic.

Despite all his apparent talent, Iqbal is low on confidence following a forgettable Asian under-19s campaign where he hardly put bat to ball and should not have been rushed. A more deserving candidate to open the innings would have been City Club's Moniruzzaman simply because of his track record.

The 26-year-old was by far the highest run-getter among all batsmen local or foreign in last season's Premier Division cricket league with 864. He has been in the national team's camp since Bangladesh's tour of Australia in June this year. Monir has also shown tremendous flexibility and even sacrificed his customary opener's slot mid-way through the league to bat in the middle-order when his club was struggling in that area. That didn't stop his prolific scoring which proves his worth as a team man. Surely these attributes didn't miss the eyes of chief selector Faruque Ahmed who ironically was the captain of City Club last season?

But for some reason, the unassuming Moniruzzaman remains the favourite pick to leave out when every newcomer around him goes on to don the national cap.

Another teenage debutant Manjarul Islam Rana didn't look out of place at all but the same can not be said about the off-spinner Jamal Uddin. Although Jamal showed a lot of guts during his last wicket stand with Tapash Baisya, it was his bowling that failed to justify his inclusion. An extra batsman or a pace bowler could have been easily played in place of the Khulna spinner who is not even a household name in domestic cricket.

If the selectors are trying to send a message with their 'go for youth' policy, they should at least move with some semblance of caution. Throwing people into the deep end and expecting them to reach the shore may appeal to the adventure-minded but whether they can actually swim should be ascertained beforehand.