"It is impossible for any citizen of the country to refrain himself from the episodes and we are no exception. Of course we have been going through anxious moments like the whole nation and hope for best. But we have to put it aside and should concentrate on our duty,'' said Bashar yesterday during the Tigers' first training session for the series against Zimbabwe.

The ongoing crisis had an immediate impact as only eight cricketers -- Bashar, Shahriar Nafees, Javed Omar, Mohammad Ashraful, Rajin Saleh, Shahadat Hossain, Syed Rasel and Mehrab Hossain -- out of 23 probables reported on the first day at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur.

The question, however raised, was if Rajin Saleh could manage an air ticket to fly to Dhaka from his hometown Sylhet on Monday night, why the rest of the selected cricketers from outside Dhaka failed to catch any transport when the blockade was only withdrawn in the same afternoon. The absence of Mohammad Rafique especially surprised many when it was not a big task for the ace left-arm spinner to join the camp from Keraniganj.

"I'm not happy with the turnout. We had informed all about the timing well before the crisis. I think 12 days' break was good enough," said a frustrated Bashar without elaborating.

The preparation camp got underway for another mission against Zimbabwe, who are scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on November 23 to play a Twenty20 match and five one-day internationals against the home side, but Bashar's men were not ready to generate hype this time.

"Like previous occasions we don't want to make a hype with the series by saying that we are going to whitewash our opponents. Rather our main objective is to take the series match by match. We are not concerned with the margin because our ultimate goal is to win the series," cautioned Bashar.

The Tigers had visited Zimbabwe in last July-August with a high hope of making a clean sweep against their southern African opponents but only swallowed a 3-2 defeat before going to India for the ICC Champions Trophy with an expectation of making a second round birth without any avail.

"We have learnt the lessons from last two engagements that we are not mentally strong enough to cope with high expectation. That's why it is better not to generate any hype. But we still believe that we are a far better side than Zimbabwe right at the moment," explained the Bangladesh skipper, who recalled their 101-run victory against Zimbabwe in the ICC Champions Trophy to justify his claim.

Although chief selector Faruque Ahmed hinted at making a few experiments during the series ahead of the World Cup, the 33-year old Bashar differed the views.

"I am totally against the idea. I would rather like to play with an unchanged combination in the five-match series. The World Cup is knocking at the door, so we should rely on a proven combination. It will be fantastic if we can play the whole series with the same team," demanded Bashar.

He said that they will try hard to find out a new opening pair during the series as makeshift opener Mohammad Ashraful has expressed his desire not to consider him as a partner of Shahriar Nafees.

"It's an area where we we've been struggling most. We tried Ashraful but the ploy didn't click and he has already wished not to consider him. I think it would be our challenge to establish a new pair in the series," he explained.

Bashar also talked about the bad patch of Ashraful, who was given rest for the last match against Zimbabwe. "The whole team is backing him but the reality is he has to solve his own problem. He might be confused with his game but we have clearly given him the message that he should play his natural game," added Bashar.