This team can go much further: Shanto aspires for more after Pakistan success

Bangladesh Test skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto seemed relaxed even after entering the history books. He is the most successful Test captain of the country while under his leadership, Bangladesh reached the seventh position in the ICC Test rankings for the first time. On a cloudy Friday evening at the BCB Academy premises, Shanto opened up about his ambitions, a shift in mindset and deciding to play both Tests against Pakistan on sporting wickets in an exclusive chat.

You are now the most successful Test captain of Bangladesh surpassing Mushfiqur Rahim. Bangladesh have gone to number seven in the ICC rankings for the first time and are now fifth in the World Test Championship standings. How does it feel?

Shanto: I am playing cricket right now. Honestly, records and history – these things will always be there. Records are made to be broken. But I am playing cricket and that is what is important to me. At the end of my career, people will talk about what I actually managed to achieve. But while I am still playing, I am just enjoying the game.

Now as the most successful Test captain, what is your aim for the team going forward?

Shanto: To be very honest, I am not worried about records at all. Winning eight Test matches as captain – that has become something very big. Or the Test team reaching seventh in the rankings – that is also a big achievement. But still, my expectations, my wishes, my dreams are much bigger. So I do not want to be satisfied with this record or this achievement in any way. Of course it feels good. As a human being, if I say I am not happy, that would be a lie. I am happy, things are going well. But I believe this team has potential to go much further and my expectations and dreams are much bigger.

How difficult was it to take the decision of playing on a sporting wicket in Sylhet after winning the first Test in Dhaka since historically, the mindset has been to go defensive and dish out a flat pitch?

Shanto: I would not call it difficult but it was a new experience for us. Long before this series began, we actually wanted to win both matches. How we could win, in what conditions we could play to win, what Pakistan's strengths were, what our strengths were – all of these things were analysed in great detail. We spoke with the senior players, and after discussions with everyone from the coaching staff to the selection panel, I felt that on the sporting wicket we played on, with the bowling and batting options we have, we could beat that team. Alhamdulillah, we succeeded. But the plan was made well in advance, through discussions with everyone, and everyone agreed. They gave very good feedback. Mushfiq bhai and Mominul bhai were there and their feedback was very valuable. So altogether it was a collective decision and we got a good result. Going forward, we will plan again according to the opponent's strengths.

But what if it had backfired? Did you think of both possibilities?

Shanto: Of course – whenever you are going to take a decision, you always think positively before taking it. But in a country like ours it is difficult because there is a lot of talk beyond cricket. But as captain I will say that whenever I take a decision, I take it very clearly, thinking positively, and I am not at all worried about what people outside will say or what they will say if we fail. Because I believe that the decision I am taking is for the betterment of the team and I am taking it with honesty. And I believe that in our discussions together, everyone wants the team to slowly develop and go higher in the future.

It is not just about winning this series. We want to win matches consistently in the future against every team. This change being brought in gradually was with this plan in mind. So I did not think negatively, or worry about what would happen if it backfired or what people would say. I was positive and I believed that if we want to build this team, we have to make such brave decisions. Alhamdulillah, a good result has come our way.

You mentioned positivity. Does this positivity come just because of your bowling strength?

Shanto: Absolutely, absolutely. I think when you have five quality bowlers, of course you can take 20 wickets – and I would say that is the biggest plus point in winning Test matches. But I will add one thing here. If you look at our Test cricket history, we have not been a very successful batting team in the sense that we have consistently not scored 350, 400 or 500. Now we are able to play five bowlers because our batters have also started putting runs on the board.

So the combination of both is very good: batters putting runs on the board, bowlers taking 20 wickets each time. If the bowlers cannot take 20 wickets, even if the batters score 500 it is useless. We all know that. So since the bowlers are taking wickets, the extra responsibility is now on the batters – how they score 400 or 500 in the first innings especially on good wickets. And you can see now we play six genuine batters and one all-rounder. So the batters' responsibility is much greater, and they are taking it. But I still believe we need to become even more consistent from here.

Are you worried about the opening pair in Tests?

Shanto: I am not panicking – that is important. From a distance, many things may seem a certain way. But I still believe that if our openers are given opportunities for a long period they will do well. And if you notice, as long as I have been captaining, I have not changed openers very much. Shadman has played, then Zakir was there for a long time, Joy is there. Now there is Tanzid Tamim too so I have stayed within these three or four names. I believe they will consistently score runs at some point. I want them to consistently score runs and take the team to a good position. That is a huge responsibility and they are trying. Since that position is such a challenge, I as captain, the coaches, the selectors, and also the general public, the media – everyone needs to be a little patient here. These boys may win you matches in the future.

How are you enjoying your own batting? Do you feel that the hundred against New Zealand in the ODI ahead of the Pakistan Test series set the tone for your form?

Shanto: Before that, a fifty-run innings helped me get some confidence. But yes – the hundred against New Zealand, given the conditions and the team's situation at that time, of course a hundred from there brings every batter's confidence back. Before that I had been working on my skills for a long time, working on a technical problem, and once that was more or less sorted and you score runs, of course as a batter the confidence comes back. Altogether it has gone well. But still I would say this is not enough. I feel that the players in the world who bat in my position are even more consistent and play even bigger innings.

There are a lot of talks regarding your fifty-to-hundred conversion rate and it has turned into a topic of discussion

Shanto: Can I ask you one more question please? How many hundreds do I have? All together – Fourteen. Is that enough? I do not like to think this way, to be honest. If instead of fourteen hundreds I had 40, then maybe I would say I have done something, or maybe then I would talk about whether the conversion rate you are mentioning is good or bad. At this moment I honestly do not think I should be talking about this at all. Because many cricketers have scored fourteen hundreds. It is not a very big thing. I want to score many, many, many more hundreds for the team – hundreds that help the team win. So that is the target. It is going well, to be very honest. If I compare where my international career started to where it is now, it is going well. But still I have to do even better going forward.

Is there any mindset shift after you score 50?

Shanto: I never think about individual milestones, honestly. Because whenever I bat, I think about what the scoreboard needs from me, what the team actually needs, how batting in a certain way is important – I think about those things more. I have no focus at all on whether I am batting on 40 or 50. I think that when a batter has made fifty, their responsibility is to take the team to a better position. So if my fifty becomes a hundred, 120, 130 etc, the team automatically goes to a good position. So that is always the target and that is the plan I bat with.

How would you compare the win against Pakistan at home and in their backyard in 2024?

Shanto: It is difficult to say – both were very hard. I think winning the away series was a different challenge altogether. In this series we lost both tosses, our batters had to bat in the most difficult conditions. Even through that challenge the batters batted well and the bowlers took twenty wickets in both places. So altogether I would say both Tests were very important and I cannot separate them and say this one is a little more special and the previous one less important. Yes, this Test is special because for the first time we won at home like this. But all four Test matches are very, very close to my heart.

There was a visible change in body language this time. You were sledging them out loud weren't you?

Shanto: Well, they have to understand, don't they (laughs).

I think when an experienced cricketer like Mushfiq bhai is in the dressing room, on the field the battles that come, how we handle those battles, how we keep ourselves calm during those moments – these are things we have learned a lot from watching him, or continue to learn. We have those experienced players who now know how to handle these moments. The most positive thing right now is that you have those resources – especially in the bowling – to give the opponent a tough time in any situation, in any conditions. So when you have this kind of bowling attack and experienced people on the field, naturally you will give the opponent a tough time, whether through sledging, bowling or batting.

I would say this is growing, and it should happen. It will happen when the team wins. When the players individually perform then that confidence automatically starts coming. Since I do not think too much about outcomes, the players also know that the captain is not worried about these things. The captain wants them to play with courage and perform with an open heart. So that message is clear to everyone. Everyone can play freely and when it is time to give someone a tough time they are doing it. When they feel that in a crunch moment they need to take responsibility, they are trying to take it. So because of these things the body language is slowly changing.

Your next series is against Zimbabwe. Does that come with added pressure now after the Pakistan series win?

Shanto: Playing Test matches and representing the country is always a matter of great pride for us. The Test match against Zimbabwe is very important. And I am not at all worried about winning or losing. I think about how to build my team, how the team moves forward, whether I have all kinds of resources. Zimbabwe is very important to prepare ourselves well before going to Australia. But Zimbabwe is also a very important series in itself – specifically because those who do not always get an opportunity to play may perhaps get that opportunity there. Winning and losing are part of the game and even if we lose there, I would have no problem as long as my players are giving a hundred percent effort and playing with a hundred percent preparation.

And Australia in their own backyard?

Shanto: I have never played there so it will be a new experience. The bowling attack is good. If our batters can play good cricket there, we can compete there too. So if I think very realistically, my first target will be how we compete against them over five days. If we can get to that point, I think the team will get extra confidence as well. I would never say I am going there just to win. Of course every person plays to win, wherever they play. So that will obviously be our target. But how well we are competing with them over five days is more important.

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