Tamim Iqbal and Mahmudullah compiled half-centuries as Bangladesh made slow progress on the opening day of the second Test in Khulna.
Tamim, whose Test strike rate prior to 2013 was 60.90 runs per 100 balls, a figure which drops to 42.38 in 19 innings since then - again reigned in his attacking instincts to bat all day for a patient unbeaten 74 off 250 balls.
The left-hander added 95 for the third wicket with Mahmudullah, who made 56, as Bangladesh crawled to 193 for three having won the toss.
Tinashe Panyangara was the pick of the Zimbabwe attack with 2-29.
The Tigers, who were nought for three chasing 101 to win the first contest last week, lost another early wicket when Shamsur Rahman was trapped lbw by Elton Chigumbura with just six on the board.
Tamim was patient from the off, scoring just two off his first 25 balls and waiting nine overs for a boundary.
Alongside Mominul Haque, he saw his side through to 62 for one at lunch and survived an lbw review shortly after the interval.
However, the pair’s 72-run second-wicket stand ended when Mominul provided a tough return catch for Panyangara to depart for 35.
After Tamim raised his bat for fifty off 169 balls, he was given a life when wicketkeeper Regis Chakabva shelled a difficult chance off Malcolm Waller.
Mahmudullah was equally patient, moving to fifty from 140 deliveries after boundaries in successive overs off Sikandar Raza and Waller, playing at the expense of spinner John Nyumbu.
Panyangara made the breakthrough from the fourth ball with the new cherry, pinning Mahmudullah lbw.
But that was all the tourists could muster as Tamim and Shakib Al Hasan added another 20 before the close.