Asia Cup: Shanto is Bangladesh’s shining star!

Najmul Hossain Shanto during his 89 yesterday. Pic/AFP

It's always heartening to see a youngster live up to potential. Much has been written about talented Bangladeshi batter Najmul Hossain Shanto, 25. The left-hander has matured over the last year, having played some crucial knocks in both red and white-ball formats. He was the lone warrior against a Sri Lankan bowling attack that threatened to run through the Bangladesh side in the Asia Cup Group ‘B' match in Pallekele on Thursday. He batted with grit and determination despite wickets falling at the other end. Had he received more support from top-order batsmen like Shakib al Hasan and Mustafiqur Rahim, he could have helped the team post a fighting total.

He was the only Bangladeshi batter, who looked confident against a Sri Lankan bowling attack that was spot on. He did enjoy some early luck when Sri Lankan captain Dasun Shanaka dropped him. Later, he was involved in a miserable run out with both Mehdi Hasan Mirza and he stuck at the same end. The way Shanto (89) continued to bat though, it seemed, Bangladesh would go well past the 225-mark. But a beautiful delivery by Maheesh Theekshana denied Shanto a well-deserved century. And once he departed, the Bangladesh innings collapsed for just 164 in 42.4 overs.

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Shanto possesses some big-match temperament. In 23 Tests, he has four centuries. He came into the limelight from schools cricket, scoring a double century when he was just 15 in 2014. In 2015, he registered his maiden first-class century playing for Rajshahi in the Bangladesh domestic cricket. In the 2016 U-19 World Cup, he earned back-to-back man of the match awards against South Africa and Scotland and aggregated 259 runs to help his team finish third. His career graph has been rising steadily.

Just a month after the heroic match-winning 117 in an ODI against Ireland in May 2023, he scored a century (146 and 124) in each innings as Bangladesh beat against Afghanistan in a one-off Test by a whopping 546 runs in Dhaka, their biggest victory margin in Tests and the third-best overall in Test history. He also scored a career-best 163 against Sri Lanka and 117 not out against Zimbabwe.

Though Shanto narrowly failed to add another ODI century against Sri Lanka here on Thursday, there is no doubt that the cricket world will see and hear a lot about this Bangladeshi southpaw in the coming years.