Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto believes his team’s first ever Test series win over Pakistan will give his countrymen something to smile about amid the current difficulties.
Recent civil unrest that ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina led to Bangladesh being stripped of the ICC Women’s Twenty20 World Cup, and in the past week the country has been hit by deadly flash floods affecting millions of people.
For the last one and a half months, everyone (in Bangladesh) has had a lot of problems, Shanto said after Bangladesh beat Pakistan by six wickets in the second Test match here on Tuesday. Bangladesh took the series 2-0.
We all know that cricket is a very emotional thing in our country, so I hope they get some smiles because we have won the series.
Bangladesh followed up an epic 10-wicket win in the first Test at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium with a comeback victory in the second Test at the same ground.
Bangladesh were 26-6 in their first innings but Litton Das and Mehidy Hasan Miraz took them to a deficit of just 12 runs. The fast bowlers then dismissed Pakistan for 172 and Bangladesh reached the winning target of 185 in 56 overs.
“The confidence in the locker room is very different this time,” Shanto said. “We were nervous (at 6-for-26) but the way Litton and Miraz hit, we believed those guys would get us into a good position.”
Shanto was impressed with the work ethic of young fast bowlers Hasan Mahmud and Nahid Rana, who shared nine wickets in the second innings.
“We read the conditions very well,” Shanto said. “The bowlers did their job and just tried to bowl in the channel for a long time, not like one or two overs. The bowlers worked very hard and that’s why we got the result.”
Bangladesh are scheduled to tour India this month for two Tests and three T20Is, and Shanto said the historic win in Pakistan – only their second series triumph away from home – boosts their morale.
This series (in Pakistan) gives us a lot of confidence, Shanto said.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First published: September 4, 2024 | 9:39 am IS
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