The Bangladesh Under-19 camp might have been shaken slightly with the news of Sanjit Saha’s bowling suspension but Nazmul Hossain Shanto gave the nation some reason to feel cheerful as he emerged as the highest run-scorer in youth ODIs yesterday.
The left-handed batsman reached the milestone during his unbeaten century against Scotland in a Group A encounter of the U-19 World Cup at Sheikh Kamal International Cricket Stadium.
Shanto’s heroics saw him surpass the previous record-holder, Pakistan’s Sami Aslam, who now features for the senior side. In their opening match against South Africa last Wednesday in Chittagong, Shanto bagged the player of the match award after scoring a fine 82-ball 73. Ahead of yesterday’s clash against Scotland, the southpaw required 61 runs to make the record his own and he accomplished it in some style.
Shanto went to the middle with the junior Tigers reeling on 17/2 inside the eighth over. But thanks to his 117-ball 113, the hosts eventually posted a challenging 256/6.
Later, Shanto had double cause for joy when Scotland were bundled out for 142, thus taking the home side through to the Super Eights for only the third time in 11 editions.
And following the end of the game, the 17-year old informed that the more dire a situation is, the more he enjoys batting.
Shanto added that since the wicket was tough to bat on, he resorted to singles more often than not.
In total, the Rajshahi youngster took 49 singles, which will no doubt delight the purists of the game.
“It was a pressure situation when we lost two early wickets. The wicket was not good to bat on so I decided to rotate the strike,” Shanto told the media.
“I enjoy batting in situations like this. You always do not find the kind of situation we were in [yesterday]. So, I always try to propel my team by putting up some runs on the board in situations like this. There have been ample times when I could not finish it right so I am happy that I have been able to contribute for the team [yesterday],” he said.
Junior Tigers captain Mehedi Hasan Miraz was at the middle with Shanto when the latter reached the milestone. Mehedi ran in to congratulate Shanto not once but twice. When asked to explain the moment, Shanto said, “We are very good friends. I think he got a little emotional at that moment. He has always been a great support to me.”
With 1615 runs in 40 youth ODIs, the previous record belonged to Pakistan opener Sami. In contrast, Shanto took 54 matches to outshine Sami. The left-hander attained the glory in the 38th over, bowled by Scottish captain Neil Flack, when he flicked the ball towards the mid-wicket region. Shanto now has 1787 runs to his credit.
