Shanto wants to flare up once again

After so many glittering performances during the age-level cricket, it was believed that Najmul Hossain Shanto would extend his glamorous batting display in the senior level as well. But he failed when he got some chances for the national side. However, the 20-year-old batsman is now well-equipped to flare up once again, UNB reported.

Shanto has so far played two Tests and three ODIs and his best was 18 in seven international innings. That was not an ideal start for him to the international circuit. But the southpaw is not worried about what he did in the past. He is rather thinking about doing well in the coming days.

“I failed to do well in the Asia Cup, but I am not worried about it. I didn’t lose my confidence to do well and now I’m working hard to find out my lacking. I want to understand why I’ve failed,” Shanto told the media on Friday during a practice camp of the High Performance (HP) Unit at the national academy ground.

“Now, I’m trying hard to score runs regularly in whichever event I get a chance so that I can deliver my best if I get selected again for the national side,” he added.

Shanto scored two hundreds and 12 fifties during his under-19 level for Bangladesh. He is at the top of the world scoring 1820 runs in youth ODIs. He played 58 matches for Bangladesh Under-19 from 2013 to 2016.

The left-hander reckons that he is now mentally more mature than ever, which will help him prove his worth in international cricket in the coming days.

“Currently, I’m more focused on the mental aspects of my game. I think skill-wise everything is fine (when it comes to my batting). In the last couple of years, I learned how to be relaxed while batting in the middle,” Shanto further told the media.

The southpaw is now busy with HP who will play against their Sri Lankan counterparts from August 19. If he can come up with some potential performances, he might get a call in the national team for Bangladesh’s one-off Test against Afghanistan next month. However, Shanto is not losing his sleep thinking about anything else but HP’s assignment.

Tamim Iqbal will not be playing in the upcoming Test against Afghanistan and tri-series T20 also involving Afghanistan and Zimbabwe, which can pave the way for Shanto if he responds positively against Sri Lanka HP.

However, Shanto looks reluctant to think about his comeback to the national side as he said: “To be honest, I am not thinking about it, and it’s not my job. I’m just thinking to do well for HP. If I do well here, selectors will do their job and I’ll certainly get a call to play for the national side. But for now, I’m thinking to flare up for HP.”