Najmul Hossain Shanto believes his first Test double century will arrive soon after another century against Pakistan national cricket team in the opening Test at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.
The Bangladesh captain scored a century on the opening day and continued a run that now includes nine Test hundreds in 73 innings. He now shares Bangladesh’s fastest route to nine Test centuries with Mominul Haque, although Mominul reached the mark with more fifties in the same span.
Shanto’s conversion rate also stands out. He has turned five scores above fifty into hundreds, giving him a conversion rate of 64.28 per cent.
Despite those numbers, the left-hander still waits for his first double century in Test cricket. Shanto, however, showed little concern over the missing landmark.
“It should come. Hopefully it will come very soon. I’m batting well,” Shanto told T Sports before the second day’s play.
The Bangladesh skipper admitted he left runs behind after failing to push on from a strong position against Pakistan.
“I don’t want to say I regret yesterday’s dismissal. Like I said, the batting was good,” he said.
“But yes, considering the position we were in as a team, I definitely should have made my innings bigger from there.”
Over the past year, Shanto has tightened his shot selection and looked calmer against both pace and spin. Against Pakistan, he again built his innings with patience before expanding his strokeplay once set.
Bangladesh relied heavily on Shanto and Mushfiqur Rahim during the first innings as the hosts tried to build a strong total in Mirpur. Shanto’s latest hundred strengthened his place as the centrepiece of Bangladesh’s Test batting unit.
