Najmul Shanto urges Bangladesh batters to buckle up in Super 8

New Delhi,UPDATED: Jun 17, 2024 09:12 IST

Najmul Hossain Shanto said that he was delighted after Bangladesh made their way through to the Super 8 of the T20 World Cup 2024. However, the skipper also admitted that the Tigers have not been up to the mark as far as their batting is concerned. On Monday, Bangladesh beat Nepal by 21 runs at the Arnos Vale Ground in Kingstown, St Vincent after defending the lowest score (106) in the history of the mega event.

Defending the modest score, they bowled Nepal out for 85 in 19.3 overs. Concerns remained with their batting as Shanto, Litton Das and Tanzid Hasan Tamim kept struggling in the top order. Shanto said that the Tigers are confident of defending low scores, but urged the batters to step up with tough matches coming up in the Super 8.

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“I am very happy the way we played this round. I hope we can continue our bowling performance, not our batting. Hope our batting performance will be fine in the next round. We are not scoring much but we know we can defend totals, if we can pick up early wickets. That is what we told the bowlers, and they are very good in the field also,” Shanto said in the post-match presentation ceremony.

‘Fast bowlers have worked really hard’

Tanzim Hasan Sakib was the standout bowler for Bangladesh against Nepal after he finished with figures of 4-0-7-4 with the help of 21 dot balls. Mustafizur Rahman bowled a wicket-maiden in the penultimate over to derail Nepal’s run-chase.

“We have everything. All the fast bowlers have worked really hard in the last two or three years. In this format, the bowling unit is very important, and I hope they continue their form,” Shanto said.

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Bangladesh finished the Group stage second in the points after back-to-back wins against the Dutch and Nepal. “In T20Is, momentum is always important. We have to plan for the next round and execute our plans,” Shanto added.

Bangladesh’s first Super 8 match is against Mitchell Marsh’s Australia on Thursday, June 20 at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua.