Najmul Hussain Shanto: Bangladesh team has been ruled out of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025. Bangladesh first suffered defeat against India and now New Zealand and thus the team is out of the top 4 race. Team captain Najmul Hussain Shanto expressed anger over the batsmen and fielders of his team, stating the reason for the defeat. Najmul Hussain Shanto has said that we are not able to score 300 runs regularly in ODI cricket.
Bangladesh’s team could only manage 236 runs against New Zealand. New Zealand easily achieved the target of 237 runs. Bangladesh batsmen also performed poorly on Rawalpindi’s flat pitch due to poor shot selection, excessive dot ball playing, lack of plan against spinners and dismissal at the wrong time. Captain Shanto definitely scored 77 off 110 balls, while Zakir Ali once again scored 45 runs.
We need to improve our batting unit.
At the press conference after the match, Najmul Hussain Shunto said, “It is really disappointing as a captain.” I think we need to improve batting and fielding a lot. I have often said that we need to improve a lot as a batting unit, but we made the same mistakes again and again. We have to focus on improving our batting. I hope that after this tournament we will make some changes as a batting unit and think differently and try to improve our batting.
The functioning should change.
When asked what kind of changes he was talking about, Shanto emphasized that ‘not in the players but his thinking and work process should change.’ I did not mean the players would change. I think we need to change our thinking. We need to take more responsibility while batting, so that we can contribute more to the team.
Captain Shanto further said, “We have to do this.” If we make a lot of changes then it will be difficult for the batsmen as well. Therefore, we have to provide opportunities using the resources available with us. He also admitted that we do not have a team that could score more than 300 runs every day. Bangladesh has played a total of 23 matches since the 2023 ODI World Cup to be held in India, including the match played on 24 February and has scored more than 300 runs only once.
We cannot score 300 runs regularly.
Regarding the Bangladeshi team struggling to score 300 runs in ODIs, the captain said, “We are not able to score 300 runs regularly.” This is true and we have to accept it. We have to make a habit of scoring 300 runs regularly, not occasionally, but regularly. So we have to practice regularly and play matches on good wickets, play against big teams and score runs.
