Najmul continues on brilliant form

Before Friday, Najmul Hossain Shanto had played 21 innings in One-Day Internationals, without reaching triple figures despite playing at the top of the order.

When he came out to bat on Friday, Bangladesh had just lost Tamim Iqbal in their chase of 320 in 45 overs, still requiring 311 off 41.3 overs.

From there, Najmul played a scintillating knock, picking up his first-ever century for the Tigers in white-ball cricket, a ton that propelled Bangladesh to their third-highest chase in ODI history.

Najmul’s century came off just 83 balls, an innings which met the demands of the chase and ensured that Bangladesh kept up with the asking rate.

The left-handed batter has been a constant victim of criticism due to his lack of runs in the early years of his career but since the year turned into 2023, Najmul has turned a leaf in his ODI career, scoring three fifties and a century in seven innings.

He is the highest scorer for Bangladesh this year with 370 runs in seven innings, averaging 52.85 with a strike rate of 87.26, which had also been under the cosh often for being too low not so long ago.

While Najmul’s innings came on a smaller ground, some of his shots were simply picturesque, and he did not allow the Irish bowlers a breather until his pull found Harry Tector in the deep square leg boundary.

When he reached his century, Najmul was jubilant, flying and thumping the air, and blowed a kiss off his bat, presumably for those from whom he had received harsh criticism.

His innings put the game in the Tigers’ pocket, and Mushfiqur Rahim ensured that Bangladesh won the game.

After the match, Najmul thanked the management who gave him the chance despite his misfiring during the early stages of his career.

“The selectors, board, and the previous coaching staff would get the thanks. I got the chance to play a lot of matches, which helped me. I am grateful to them because they believed in me,” he said.

However, the Player of the Match believed that he still had a long way to go.

“But I still have to go a long way. I have played a few good innings. If I can keep on playing this way, it will be good for me and for the team,” Najmul said.

The 24-year-old batter, after a few years of trouble, has found consistency. He was the highest run-scorer for Bangladesh in the last T20 World Cup in Australia, then scored the most in the Bangladesh Premier League, and now has been the Tigers’ highest scorer this year in ODIs.

Along with that, he was Bangladesh’s best batter in their three-match Twenty20 International series against England, helping the side to their first-ever series win over the current World Champions.

The batter, who came through to the national team after walking through every stage of the game – school cricket, age-level, domestic, A team, and the High-Performance team – has just started to succeed, and if his recent performances are any indication, the left-handed batter will only go from strength to strength.

And with the World Cup only a few months away, Bangladesh will hope that he only keeps walking on his purple patch and do it even better, because they will need that to succeed in the showcase tournament.