Bangladesh Under-19 batsman Nazmul Hossain Shanto might have missed out on a well-deserved century yesterday but the youngster said he has no regrets whatsoever.
The home side started off their campaign in the U-19 World Cup with a relatively comfortable 43-run win over holders South Africa with Shanto showing the way with a fine 82-ball 73.
And despite falling short of a landmark century, Shanto informed that team performance always comes first, as opposed to individual milestones.
“For me it is important the team has won and that I have contributed 70 runs to the victory. To be honest, it is no issue for me that I was not able to score a hundred. I always aim to contribute and help the team win. I had this aim since the day I started playing cricket. You see, there is no use of my century if the team loses,” Shanto told the media at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium.
The 17-year old, who also bowls right-arm fast, is one of five Bangladesh cricketers playing their second U-19 World Cup. Shanto believes his experience from the previous campaign aided him to play a vital role yesterday against the reigning U-19 champions.
“My experience of playing the previous World Cup has helped. I think I understood the match situation well and played accordingly. When I walked to the middle, I first had the intention of rotating the strike; take singles and hit when there was a bad ball on offer. Later, we lost two-three wickets which made me hold my shots back and stick to taking singles,” he said.
Shanto added, “They (South Africa) are a very good side and we have been able to win against them. As a result we have made a very good start to the tournament. I will not say the next two group-stage matches [against Scotland and Namibia] will be easy but the win [yesterday] will give us plenty of confidence in those matches.”
