Bangladesh captain Shanto eyes results in last sessions against India

After creating history in Pakistan, Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto said his team is confident of doing well in the forthcoming two-match Test series against India, starting on September 19 in Chennai. Bangladesh have never won a Test match against India but are coming into this series on the back of a 2-0 whitewash over Pakistan.

"It will be a challenging series but we have the extra confidence from the Pakistan series. I guess the whole country has that confidence now. Every series is an opportunity. We want to win both Tests, but we have to stick to our process. If we do our job, we can get a good result,” ESPNcricinfo quoted Shanto as saying.

"They are well ahead of us in the rankings. But we did play well recently. We want to play well for five days, that's our goal. We want to get the result in the last session of the Test match. At that time, the match can go in any direction. It is an opportunity (to get our first win in India). We will play with a win in mind. But we don't want to think too far ahead. We want to do well for five days, and play to our strength. That's most important."

Bangladesh fast bowlers - Nahid Rana, Hasan Mahmud and Taskin Ahmed - did well in Pakistan, but Shanto understands they are less experienced than their Indian counterparts. The Bangladesh captain, however, feels his spinners - Shakib Al Hasan, Taijul Islam and Mehidy Hasan Miraz - have enough experience to do well against India.

"We are in a good place with our bowling attack, both spin and pace. Perhaps our pacers are behind them in terms of experience but our spin attack is close to theirs. They can bowl in any conditions. All I can say is that our pacers, spinners and batters will give 100%.

"I think we can make a difference only if we play as a team. It is not just the spinners but the pacers and the batters also. The whole team has to play together."

Shanto himself hasn’t been in great form of late. The left-handed batter has scored only 90 runs in his last four Tests at an average of 12.86. 

Talking about his form, Shanto said: "My personal goal is that Bangladesh team wins and I feel as a batter, contribute to the team." 

“The preparation that is required to do that, I have done. The rest lies in the hand of Allah and I will try my best to contribute for the team."

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