Shanto’s quest to end batting misery

Bangladesh skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto is leaving no stone unturned to get his form back ahead of the upcoming tour of India, consisting of two Tests and three T20Is, beginning in Chennai with the opening Test on September 19.

Although the Tigers performed remarkably well under his leadership during their recent tour of Pakistan and whitewashed the hosts in the two-Test series – earning their maiden Test series win over Pakistan, Shanto failed to set an example with his bat throughout the series.

In the only innings he batted in the opening Test, Shanto made 16 runs before getting clean bowled by Pakistani pacer Khurram Shahzad and suffered the same fate against the same bowler in the first innings of the following Test after making only four runs.

Shanto showed some steel in the second innings of that Test but still failed to finish the game for the tourists as he was caught at short leg by Salman Agha after scoring a dogged 38 off 82 balls.

Since returning home after a successful Pakistan tour on Wednesday night, most Bangladeshi players chose to kickback and relax with their family members in the short break before the preparation camp for the India series, scheduled to begin today in Mirpur.

However, Shanto was an exception in this case as he stepped into the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Friday with all of his gear just one day after returning to the country and completed an intense practice session on the following day as well under the supervision of Bangladesh Tigers head coach Sohel Islam.

When contacted, Sohel refused to reveal what technical issues they worked on to end Shanto's batting misery but the Bangladesh skipper's prompt return to training makes it evident that he is desperate to contribute with his bat after failing to score a half-century in his last nine Test innings.

The last time Shanto had a decent outing in Tests was back in November 2023, when he scored 105 against New Zealand in the second innings of the opening Test in Sylhet. Since then, he has reached double digits in only four out of his nine Test innings.

Since that century, the southpaw has played some decent innings in the one-day format, scoring an unbeaten 51 and 122 respectively against New Zealand and Sri Lanka, but his returns with the bat have remained mostly ordinary in T20Is with only one fifty in 19 innings.

Bangladesh are expected to face a sterner challenge in India, where they will be touring for the first time for a bilateral series since 2019, with the batters set to be tested by a better rounded and more lethal bowling attack than Pakistan.

The Tigers will be hoping that they get the best out of Shanto as a batsman in India alongside his astute captaincy which has already received a lot of applause from all corners.