Captaincy bringing the best out of Shanto

When our parents/family members name us, they perhaps do so by seeing how we look or behave or perhaps how they want us to be.

Sometimes those names may match, sometimes, they may not.

In Bangladesh's newly announced all-format captain Najmul Hossain Shanto's case, they have probably gotten the name spot-on.

The Tigers won the 2nd T20I comprehensively by seven wickets and perhaps the biggest positive was captain Najmul Hossain Shanto's batting where he top-scored with 53 not out from 38 balls.

There is an air of calmness around him when the going gets tough and he's the leader and that was on full display in a must-win match for Bangladesh.

"It feels good to win this game. We have played good cricket in both games but we couldn't win the first game unluckily," Shanto said at the post-match press conference. 

We have often seen tempers flare on and off the field for Bangladesh's senior players and that has led to many controversies and decisions they perhaps regret - take the Shakib Al Hasan versus Tamim Iqbal rift for example.

But despite all the outside noise and after enduring a difficult time in the recently concluded Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) where he failed to score a single innings over fifty, he brought his side a much-needed win. 

Not getting captaincy for the Sylhet Sixers franchise after Mashrafe Mortaza had left the team to fulfil his parliamentary duties, might also have affected Shanto's batting but he didn't let that bog him down for the national team. 

"I didn't have a good BPL but I want to get over my lackings in my batting. I think I did slightly better today. I will try to improve more," he said. 

Although he scored his first 50+ knock in 11 innings, to Shanto, helping his team in a winning contribution is what matters more. 

"A fifty is not important, rather an effective score for the team is what I am after. I am happy that I could contribute, and finish the chase," he explained.

This is perhaps something that has been key in improving Shanto's batting when he has been made captain.

Shanto bats with more responsibility especially when chasing and he likes to take the game deep and finish the job for his side.

Bangladesh have won their first-ever Test in home soil against New Zealand under his captaincy, last December in the same venue.

The Tigers then went on to win their first-ever T20I and ODI in New Zealand against New Zealand earlier this year under Shanto's captaincy.

While his captaincy has been exemplary, the runs have also started to flow with the bat.

The 25-year-old averages over 39 in all formats as captain, much higher than the 29 he averages when he's not playing as captain.

Speaking of his captaincy, while there may not be any stats to quantify what he's doing apart from wins and losses, there are areas where it's evident that he's learning.

In the first T20I, Shoriful Islam started off well, but then got hit for runs in the latter overs and in the last match, Shanto used him early in the innings, before the death overs and he ended up putting pressure on the Sri Lankan batting by giving away just 20 runs in his four overs. 

"It is always inspiring to lead Bangladesh. I tried to lead with responsibility when I was the interim captain, so there was nothing different in these two games," he explained.

Despite losing the first game narrowly, Bangladesh went with the same lineup in the second match and Shanto explained his reasoning behind this decision. 

"I think it is very important (not to panic). We played good cricket in the first game. We lost by three runs. We didn't lack much in that game. Everyone tried for the team, so the players and coaching staff weren't too worried. I think this really gave us the confidence in this game."

The man from Rajshahi has had good luck as well in this series as he won both tosses in conditions that favoured batting second with tue dew factor: "I don't know about the toss but we want to win the third match." 

He however adds that chasing wasn't easy in these conditions, especially given Bangladesh's general weakness against chasing big totals.

"I think that chasing in the conditions wasn't easy. We could have panicked but we have improved in this regard since last year. This mindset will help us in bigger matches.

Chasing, and scoring big, especially in T20Is is not something fans are used to seeing from the Tigers but this has been an area they gradually seem to be getting better at.

The team's results in T20Is have also started to improve as they've won the T20I series against England, Ireland and Afghanistan at home and drew a series against New Zealand away over the past year.

With this being a T20 World Cup year, Bangladesh will need to show such results and improved performances in such good batting pitches and Shanto is looking forward to the third T20I which is the series decider.

"We have made a comeback in the series. We have a good mindset. We have to plan better in the next game, and execute those plans," he concluded.

Whatever the result in the final match, it is clear that the cricket board has made the right decision by making Shanto the full-time captain in all formats, as it not only has improved his game, but the team seems to be headed in the right direction too, on and off the field.