As Bangladesh stand one win away from a Super Eight place in the T20 World Cup 2024, their captain Najmul Hossain Shanto is a subject of mixed feelings, reports espncricinfo.com.
He has led Bangladesh superbly. He has been proactive in his on-field leadership. His handling of bowling changes has been spot-on, which is hard to do in three consecutive games at a T20 World Cup, and he has not shied away from taking tough but unpopular decisions on and off the field.
Shanto's decision to give Shakib Al Hasan just the one over against South Africa was akin to heresy in Bangladesh cricket. It was a little like Rahul Dravid declaring the India innings with Sachin Tendulkar unbeaten on 194.
It was called the "declaration of independence" at the time, a loud proclamation of a team-first attitude. Shanto giving Shakib just one over was a widely debated call, and a major one for a Bangladesh captain about to turn 26.
His captaincy has been a key component of Bangladesh's comeback from a nightmare start to their tour of North America.
Shanto's batting form, however, is a cause for concern. His three innings at this World Cup so far have brought him scores of 7, 14 and 1, and he has not scored a half-century in his last 16 innings across international formats, averaging 13.43 in this period.
His form has worsened since his arrival in North America in mid-May: he has passed 14 just once in five T20I innings over the course of Bangladesh's 2-1 defeat to USA last month and this World Cup.
Shanto's North America tour began with his getting stumped off the USA part-timer Steven Taylor as he looked to hit his way out of trouble with Bangladesh stuck at 51 for 2 in the eighth over.
He looked in better shape in the next innings, scoring 36 off 34 balls before a mix-up with Towhid Hridoy got him run out.
In Bangladesh's first match at the T20 World Cup, Shanto scratched around for 12 balls before hitting a drive straight to cover. It was a similar story against South Africa: he scratched around for 22 balls before he got rushed by Anrich Nortje, caught at short square-leg trying to pull a 146kph delivery.
Shanto had been dismissed in similar manner against India in the warm-up game in New York.
Against Netherlands, Shanto reverse-swept offspinner Aryan Dutt straight to slip. He was facing just his third ball.
The shot brought to mind a comment in a recent interview from Shanto's club coach, the former Bangladesh captain Khaled Mahmud.
"He [Shanto] is a confident guy, but consistency is becoming a hurdle for him," Mahmud had said. "I spoke to him recently. I told him that it looks like you are in a lot of hurry in the middle. It is not written anywhere that you have to hit a six every ball in T20s." Away from the batting crease, however, Shanto is a completely different character. He keeps his calm in public, and smiles a lot in the field. He enjoys his teammates' success. It takes a strong character to survive the high-pressure and lonely world of Bangladesh captaincy, and Shanto has shown character off the field too, sticking to his guns even when taking unpopular decisions.
He is, for instance, part of the decision-making group that has kept picking Tanzim Hasan Sakib over Shoriful Islam, who has been fit since June 8, and Tanzim has vindicated this with his new-ball displays.
The highlight of Shanto's captaincy, though, has been his handling of legspinner Rishad Hossain. After the South Africa match, coach Chandika Hathurusinghe praised Shanto for risking Rishad in the 19th over against a hungry David Miller. Rishad got the left-hander out first ball. Hathurusinghe said the credit for the wicket should go not just to the bowler but the captain too.
He used Rishad smartly against the Netherlands too, keeping faith in him even after he went for 14 in his first over. Rishad rewarded Bangladesh with three wickets in two overs when Shanto gave him the 15th and 18th overs. A Bangladeshi legspinner getting important wickets is a sight for sore eyes, and so is a Bangladeshi captain trusting the legspinner to bowl the big overs.
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