Shanto doesnโt want to lose focus despite maiden ton
Minhaz Uddin KhanSports
Bangladesh top-order batsman Nazmul Hossain Shanto doesn’t want to get carried away with his maiden Test century.
The left-handed batsman was under the limelight on day one of the ongoing Test against hosts Sri Lanka at Pallakele International Cricket Stadium where Bangladesh posted 302 runs losing four wickets at stumps Wednesday.
Shanto remained unbeaten on 126, while his captain Mominul Haque was on 64 not out at the other end of the crease.
Shanto reached his first international century with a cover drive for a boundary off spinner Dhananjaya de Silva.
Usually a cricketer on such occasion bursts into wild celebration but Shanto was different as he remained calm.
The celebration involved only raising his bat and helmet to address his colleagues in the dressing room.
Shanto's soft celebration is understood to be more of a relief than being happy.
๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ถ๐๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ง๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ต๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐น๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ต ๐ฏ
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) April 21, 2021
Najmul Hossain Shanto scored his maiden Test century as Bangladesh dominated day one of the first Test against Sri Lanka.#SLvBAN๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ง๐ฉ
Since his emergence through the Bangladesh U-19 colors, Shanto has been a name of prospect in Bangladesh cricket.
Say while playing in the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League, the Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 or for the national team, Shanto's thought process and effort in the nets has always caught the attention of the team management.
But the promise and prospect showed off the field went missing during matches.
Shanto made a sudden appearance for Bangladesh in Test in 2017 against New Zealand in Christchurch.
Then there was one appearance after another in ODI and T20I, but unfortunately the top-order batsman could not flourish.
Even in the last Test, at home against the West Indies in January-February this year, Shanto totalled just 40 runs in four innings.
“I had the belief that I can score because I have worked really hard in the last four-five months. Yes, I was not getting the results but I always believed that I will be able to score runs. I never took the pressure that I have to prove something,” said Shanto during a virtual conference Wednesday.
Nazmul Hossain Shanto struck his maiden Test century to take Bangladesh to a commanding position against Sri Lanka...
Posted by Sports Tribune on Wednesday, 21 April 2021
“Like I said, I had the belief in me so there is nothing much to get excited about. We still have a lot of batting left in the game and my aim is to convert the innings,” he added.
Shanto did not have the best of starts.
The southpaw was straggling to time the ball but the score ticked along just fine as his partner Tamim Iqbal kept the opposition busy.
This allowed him to take time to settle in and reach his first 50 off 120 deliveries.
The other 50 came in 115 balls.
A confident looking Tamim got dismissed scoring 90 but the 22-year old Shanto held his ground as he took 38 deliveries to go from the nervous 90s to the glorious 100.
“Tamim bhai was batting really well which honestly helped me a lot. He was scoring quickly which allowed me to take time to settle. He told me ‘the wicket is good, bat your way’. I had kept that in mind. Played the balls according to the merit,” informed Shanto.