Sports Desk : dhakamirror.com
The most remarkable thing in the second ODI was to see Najmul Hossain Shanto come of age. Touted as one of the best young players, Shanto failed to live up to the expectation on most of the occasions but on a day when it mattered the most, he delivered to give Bangladesh an exciting victory.
“I was not thinking about getting a hundred. I just watched the ball and play and I know if I can bat properly I can get a hundred. I am very happy because it was my first one-day hundred and the way I wanted to bat I batted. But I felt if I could finish the game it would have made me more happy,” Shanto said after the match.
Shanto thanked the selectors and former head coach Russell Domingo for backing him when he was not in form.
“The selectors and the coaching staff that includes the previous ones like Russell (Domingo) gave me an opportunity to play a lot of matches and it helped. I am thankful to them that they had that trust in me but still have a long way to go because I feel I just played well in a couple of innings and if I can continue(in this manner) it is good for me and my team,” he said.
Shanto who brought up his maiden ODI ton in his 23 ODIs himself gave the credit to Towhid Hridoy who made his debut in the last home series against this opponent.
“The way Hridoy batted after coming to the wicket and the intent that he showed, it helped my batting and he never looked nervous. The partnership that we made and we wanted to play as per the requirement, and the important thing is that we are not thinking about the outcome and just try to play our natural game,” he added.
