Hathurusingha all praise for Test captain Shanto
His field placements in the first Test gained a lot of praise. They were often out of the box but rarely he put a foot wrong.
Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha praised Najmul Hossain Shanto after he led them to a historic victory over New Zealand in Sylhet three days ago. The Sri Lankan said the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) will decide whether to make him full-time captain or not but Shanto has a bright future ahead.
His field placements in the first Test gained a lot of praise. They were often out of the box but rarely he put a foot wrong.
"Captaincy and leadership are two things. Captaincy was excellent. He was tactically on the mark. He was step ahead of the game most of the time. Very impressive field placings as well. Sometimes unorthodox, but very effective," Hathurusingha told reporters ahead of the second Test in Mirpur.
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"He led from the front with his performance. He was commanding respect, and demanding the standard. I think he has a long future ahead. The decision to appoint him as captain is with the board. They will make that decision when the right time comes. Definitely [a strong contender]," he said.
It was the first time Bangladesh won a World Test Championship (WTC) point at home. Hathurusingha said the realistic goal for Bangladesh will be to try to win the home Tests this time.
"Realistic goal [in this WTC cycle] would be to try to win all the matches at home. I think We can do that. I said at the start of this series that we aim to play well at home. Then try to compete outside. We have good fast bowlers who will help us compete in different conditions. Our young players are capable of playing in any conditions. We need to prepare. The board has done good things like using Duke balls, and playing on grassy pitches. It has helped develop fast bowlers, and batters who can play fast bowling," he mentioned.
