Shanto wants entire Bangladesh team to share Player-of-the-Match award after historic Australia win

Darwin, Aug 16 (IANS) Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto hailed a complete team effort after his side registered a historic nine-wicket victory over Australia in the first Test in Darwin, saying the result was built on contributions from players across the XI.

It was Bangladesh’s first-ever Test win in Australia, coming in only their third match in the country. Their fast bowlers set the tone on the opening day before Tanzid Hasan’s maiden Test century, valuable lower-order runs and Mehidy Hasan Miraz’s all-round brilliance helped seal a memorable victory.

“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.”

Hasan Mahmud was awarded Player of the Match for taking nine wickets, and Taskin Ahmed and Ebadot Hossain got Australia out on 198 after Shanto had lost the toss. This was only the second instance in which Bangladesh’s fast bowlers had taken all ten wickets in an innings.

“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. “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.

“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.”

Mehidy achieved his 15th five-wicket haul in Test matches, and Taijul Islam got rid of Marnus Labuschagne at a vital point during Australia’s second innings, as well as scoring some important runs even though he was suffering from a finger injury.

Shanto also congratulated Tanzid Hasan on his first century, which he achieved in only his second Test, and he praised the resilience shown by the lower order, enabling Bangladesh to reach 426 in the first innings.

Bangladesh had joined the Test match after having been all out for only 54 in their friendly game against the Cricket Australia XI and after suffering an innings loss to Zimbabwe in the previous Test, and Shanto stated that neither of those results had affected the team’s confidence.

“We didn’t play well in that practice game, but that’s cricket for you. We however treated it as a practice game, we weren’t too down after that game. We spoke about our mistakes, but we were also giving everyone a chance to bat and bowl in that game. We treated it like a proper practice match, but it didn’t reflect a lot in this Test match.

“We also didn’t do well against Zimbabwe, though those were pretty tough conditions. But as I don’t think we lost too much confidence since that game. The players were still in good shape, as we knew that we can turn things around. We also had the 2-0 win against Pakistan in May, in our mind.”

Shanto said Bangladesh had focused on embracing the challenge of playing Australia rather than worrying about the conditions.

“We have to admit that these are tough conditions. They have a world-class batting line-up, a world-class bowling attack. They are a fantastic cricket team,” Shanto 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.”

The landmark victory prompted celebrations back home, with Shanto revealing that Bangladesh’s prime minister Tarique Rahman called to congratulate the team.

“Our honourable prime minister called to congratulate us. Our board president also spoke to us, he is very happy. We also got a call from the home minister. These are special moments for us, as I believe everyone back home is enjoying our success.

“I prefer keeping myself grounded. It is my nature. We should definitely celebrate this win. We get these moments very few times in our life, so we should spend the whole day in celebrating this win.”

–IANS

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