Bangladesh losing convincingly to India and New Zealand and being out of contention for a spot in the semi-final in the ICC Champions Trophy may seem like the worst thing about the team's ongoing campaign in Pakistan and the UAE, but it's not.

The worst part is that hardly anyone seems to be surprised by it.

Coming into an ICC event as underdogs is nothing new for the Tigers; they have been doing so for decades now. But there was a time, during the mid to late 2010s, when some analysts would give Bangladesh at least an outside chance of creating some waves in ICC events.

Many had thought that period was the start of the rise of the Tigers, but it is now considered more like a false dawn.

Bangladesh's main problem in recent ICC events has been their batting, and this Champions Trophy has been no different. At a time when throwing caution to the wind is the norm, the Tigers remain stuck in their archaic ways, determined to anchor the innings but failing to up the ante in slog overs on most occasions.

In a situation like this, the likeliest solution may seem like injecting fresh energy. But that's where the problem lies, as even Bangladesh's new generation, from the looks of it, is way behind the curve.

In Bangladesh's current Champions Trophy squad, Towhid Hridoy, Tanzid Tamim and Parvez Emon are the only three batters aged below 25. While Parvez is still waiting for his ODI debut, Hridoy and Tanzid are already regular starters in the 50-over format and have played the first two matches in the Champions Trophy.

Hridoy won hearts in the match against India, taking control of the innings after the team was on 35-5 and enduring cramp to make 100 off 118 balls, but his overly defensive 24-ball seven against New Zealand left everyone confused since the right-hander's strike rate stands at 82.55 after 31 ODI innings. Meanwhile, Tanzid started well in both games, making a run-a-ball 25 and 24 but the southpaw had characteristically gifted his wicket to the opposition on both occasions, in line with his average of 21 in 22 ODIs.

Even though the ongoing Champions Trophy is their third straight ICC tournament for the Tigers, having played in the 2023 ODI World Cup and the 2024 T20 World Cup, one could argue that they are still new to the international arena and are finding their feet.

But that's just it. While Bangladesh have continually given some earmarked batters the long rope in hopes they would mature into the batters the team needs, the leading countries seemingly have an assembly line of youngsters ready to push the limits of the game.

In the same game when Hridoy struggled to pick up singles and got dismissed while trying to make up for the dot balls with a boundary, New Zealand's brightest batting star, Rachin Ravindra, expertly dealt with the pressure after his side lost early wickets, found gaps in a packed off-side field against a charged-up Taskin Ahmed and Nahid Rana, and set up the chase for the Black Caps.

Tellingly, the two most experienced batters in Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah Riyad also departed the same way as Hridoy, showing exactly how the Tigers' batting is stuck in a loop of mediocrity.