Bangladesh's performance in the ICC Champions Trophy once again proved that the Tigers have a long way to go before cementing their place in the big league.(The Daily Star)

Still, national captain Habibul Bashar believes that Bangladesh have managed to bridge the gap with the cricket giants.

Having failed to qualify for the main round of the biennial event, the Tigers returned home from Delhi yesterday morning and Bashar claimed that the tour was not entirely hopeless.

"I know that we could not fulfil our target of reaching the second round, but overall, it was not a bad trip," Bashar told on their return at the Zia International Airport.

"We have played one bad match, against the West Indies, and I reckon the other two games were satisfactory," said the top batsman of the country whose side crashed to Sri Lanka and the West Indies before wrapping up their campaign with a consolation win against Zimbabwe.

"All the matches have been low scoring. If you consider that, our performance was not bad at all. I don't agree that the difference between Bangladesh and the top sides remains the same.

"We have played two big teams in this tournament after a long time. The last time we faced a big opponent was against Australia at home. The long break has affected pour performance and I believe that the more we will play against the big boys, the better will be the results," he said admitting that the Tigers' never ending top-order crisis has yet to be over.

"It was total failure against Sri Lanka in our first game but in the next two matches, at least one top-order player got runs. But this has not been a tournament for the batsmen so far and most of them have been struggling. The wickets are not at all batting friendly.

"But I would not give any excuses for the disaster against West Indies because we lost our way from a commanding situation. Someone should have shouldered the responsibility," said Bashar, who himself was under heavy criticism for failing to deliver the goods.

It seemed that Bashar, who returned from injury and was dismissed for ducks in the first two matches, did not recover properly.

"I only realised after playing the matches that my personal preparation was not adequate. My last match was satisfactory and I think I'll do better with time," told the 33-year-old who made 30 against Zimbabwe.

Bashar also complained that although the seamers used the new ball well, they lacked discipline in the whole tournament.

Coach Dav Whatmore was also dismissive of the team's form. "Although we have not reached our main objective of reaching second round, a lot of positives have come out of it."

When his attention was drawn to Mohammad Ashraful's failure as an opener, he said that experimenting with the top batsman was not an error.

"We tried two different opening combinations and still working on that. We still have problems in the top order," said Whatmore who was happy with the performance of the young generation.

For ex-captain Khaled Mahmud, it was different kind of experience as he made his debut as national manager.

"I have enjoyed it. Everywhere I went, I got assistance from the people I knew from the cricketing days. Although I missed the company of my fellow cricketers and spent less time with them due to the responsibilities I had, enjoyed it in a different way," said Mahmud.