Khaled Mahmud Sujon has said Bangladesh cricketers’ body language and other factors led him to believe they would reach the semi-finals of the World Cup in India, but after a string of poor performances, it appears they do not even have fire in the belly.

“I had said before coming to the World Cup that we would play in the semi-finals. Now I wonder why I had said that,” he said while speaking to reporters at the hotel in Delhi on Friday ahead of their game against Sri Lanka.

“I’ve been working in Bangladesh’s cricket for a long time. The boys’ body language, playing style and everything made me believe Bangladesh would do very good in these conditions. They were supposed to. We had high hopes,” he said.

But Bangladesh have become the first team to be eliminated after six losses in seven games. A seven-wicket loss to Pakistan eliminated the Tigers from the showpiece tournament on Tuesday.

“I feel bad. Very bad. We may not play the semis, or become the sixth, seventh or 10th team, but I didn’t see any fighting spirit,” Sujon said.

He added there would be plenty of mistakes and wrong decisions after a long losing streak, but the team needed to think about improvements in the two remaining games.

Sujon, a former captain, also said he was not happy with the duties given to him by the Bangladesh Cricket Board.

Asked if he would have taken up the role of team director had he known his duties would be limited, and that the coach and the captain would take all cricketing decisions, he said: “No, I would not.”

“Now I’m playing the role given by the BCB,” he said. “I’m away from what I had done in the T20 World Cup.”