Last Updated on 6 seconds ago by Charbel Coorey
A proud Najmul Hossain Shanto says the whole Bangladesh team deserves the player-of-the-match award after trouncing Australia by nine wickets in Darwin. The visitors, written off by many before the series, produced the near-perfect game of cricket to take a 1-0 lead.
“This is the biggest win so far for Bangladesh in any format,” Shanto said at the presentation. “Going forward, we will do something special in the future.”
In the press conference, Shanto said the pace bowlers set the tone on day one. The absence of Nahid Rana did not affect the Tigers one bit, with Taskin Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain and player-of-the-match Hasan Mahmud rolling Australia for 198.
“If you look at the first session of the match, I think the way Hasan, Taskin and Ebadot bowled, that set the tone for this match,” Shanto said, as quoted by Cricinfo.
“I think Hasan has been outstanding. He consistently performed before he came here. He performed well in county cricket which he said was similar to conditions here. The fast bowlers are bowling really well in the last few years.”
Then, the spinners, particularly Mehidy Hasan Miraz went to work in the second innings. Conditions became more helpful by the fourth day – the fruits of Bangladesh’s work with the bat to wear out the pitch and Aussie bowlers across 138 overs in the first innings.
“We also have two quality spinners in Taijul [Islam] and [Mehidy Hasan] Miraz. I thought Miraz used the conditions pretty well, especially in the second innings, and they have their experience. They have played a lot of Test matches and they know their role. So really happy to see them perform,” Shanto said.
A proud Najmul Hossain Shanto says every player deserves the player-of-the-match award
In addition to the brilliance of Hasan Mahmud and Mehidy Hasan Miraz, opener Tanzid Hasan Tamim produced an innings of high class. Dropped on nought having played a loose shot, Tanzid then knuckled down, barely putting a foot wrong en route to a maiden Test hundred.
Also, the effort of Bangladesh’s lower order was huge in the context of this match. Australia took three quick wickets with the second new ball, reducing Bangladesh to 308/6 and raising the possibility of keeping the lead below 150.
However, Bangladesh batted another 52.3 overs and added a further 118 runs. The brilliant Mehidy faced 154 deliveries for his 65, while Hasan Mahmud (92 balls), Taijul Islam (23 balls), Taskin Ahmed (32 balls) and Ebadot Hossain (18 balls) did not relent.
“I think the Bangladesh team should be given the Player-of-the-Match trophy. Everyone contributed in some way or other,” Shanto said.
“Of course, Tamim’s maiden hundred in only his second Test is always special. Miraz has done this type of performance in the past before. He was just outstanding with bat and ball.
“I was really proud of the way our lower order batted in this game. Hasan, Taijul, Taskin and even Ebadot. We usually don’t get a lot out of their batting so this was a really important contribution in this game. We must give them credit.”
We embraced the challenge, rather than worry about it – Shanto
Shanto, who hit an excellent 81 in the first innings, also revealed something telling about Bangladesh’s mindset. A first Test tour of Australia for 23 years can bring about nerves, but the captain spoke of the wonderful opportunity ahead.
“We have to admit that these are tough conditions. They [Australia] have a world-class batting line-up, a world-class bowling attack. They are a fantastic cricket team,” he said.
“But ahead of this tour, we were having a conversation about not getting any opportunity of playing in Australia. Batting well against their bowling line-up, and bowling well to their batters, so we wanted to enjoy doing these things rather than feel worried about the conditions. We accepted the challenge, which showed in the way we adapted and enjoyed in this Test match.”
Bangladesh have won two of their past three Tests against Australia, dating back to 2017. They have an opportunity to add a third when the second Test begins in Mackay on Saturday 22 August.
