BANGLADESH TOUR OF SRI LANKA, 2025
Najmul Hossain celebrates his century © AFP
Bangladesh shared honours with Sri Lanka in the first Test at Galle but it begged the question whether Najmul Hossain Shanto and co. played it too safe.
Bangladesh had reduced Sri Lanka to 48 for 4 at one point but the declaration from Najmul came earlier than expected, with five overs still left in the day. It left few eyebrows being raised that suggested the tourists had let Sri Lanka off the hook.
Despite rain having washed out the morning session, Bangladesh already had a lead of 187 runs when they resumed on 177 for 3 but instead of pushing the urgency button they ticked over the scoring rate quite slowly. The tourists put on 60 runs in 19 overs before rain interrupted again, this time right after Mushfiqur Rahim was run out, making 49.
With Najmul on 87, the visitors batted a further 11 overs that helped the southpaw become the first Bangladeshi captain to score twin centuries in a Test match. But along with it, it seemed Bangladesh settled too early rather than chase a monumental moment, though Najmul begs to differ.
“I didn’t feel like that,” he said.
“On Day 5, we expected the wicket to behave a certain way. We wanted to reach a position where we couldn’t lose, but still had a chance to win. But the rain changed our plans,” said Najmul.
”We wanted to win from the very beginning. Early in the morning, we were watchful to see how the wicket behaved. Still, we scored at three runs per over. If we had batted until lunch, the scenario would’ve been different…we needed at least 60-70 overs. I’m not worried – because with whatever time we had, our bowlers took four wickets,” he said.
Najmul added that he was delighted to score a century in each innings, as he felt rewarded for his preparation back home, but wasn’t willing to reveal the reason behind his wild celebration after scoring both the centuries.
“I am very happy (with my knocks). The preparation was good. I did some technical things in my batting, before coming on this tour. I know the conditions and opponents’ threat as well,” said Najmul.
“I had a plan. I still have one match left so I don’t want to reveal too much (about the celebration) and I was clear what I wanted to do, so I am really happy,” he said adding that he is not bothered what others are saying.
“I look to improve myself every day, rather than focusing on what anyone is saying. It is more important whether I am enjoying my cricket, or whether I am able to contribute to the team,” he said, who is being trolled on social media following his recent batting failures.
“There will always be criticisms and discussions but the main thing is how I can contribute to the team. Whether my work ethic and intention is right or not. It is pleasing that I tried to contribute to the best of my ability,” he said.
Najmul added that the draw will give Bangladesh confidence ahead of the second Test and also heaped praise on the work ethic of offspinner Nayeem Hasan.
“Miraz [Mehidy Hasan] is a very important player. We all know how good he is. His replacement Nayeem Hasan bowled really well. We are really happy with him. He doesn’t get enough chances to play due to the combination. Nayeem has an outstanding work ethic. That’s what we want from someone from Nayeem, who doesn’t get all the opportunities. But still he does all the right things in practice. I think it’s a great example for other players who are waiting for their opportunities. He properly used it, so I am happy for Nayeem,” said Najmul.
“This match will definitely give us confidence. Miraz is fully healthy. We are hopeful he can return to the side in the next match. We will face a different condition there. I think only Mushfiq bhai played a match in that ground. We have to understand those conditions to select the team. We will know our batting approach once we see the conditions,” he concluded.
© Cricbuzz
