He stayed true to that reputation as South Africa scored 575 for 6 over the first two days, before Bangladesh imploded with the bat. They lost 14 wickets on the third day, ending the match bowled out for 159 and then 143. Mominul Haque, who scored 82 in the first innings, was bowled out twice in one session.
“We’ve been hitting like this for a long time,” Shanto said. “If you don’t get top-order partnerships, the rest of the batsmen will find it difficult in red-ball cricket. I don’t know how our top-order batsmen prepare or think, but if it continues like this, “This will be the result. This was good terrain. Even in Mirpur, the kind of terrain it was, we shouldn’t have left so quickly. “Overall, we didn’t bat well in these two Tests.”
“We’re doing races individually,” he said. “Mominul bhai He made a century, but we couldn’t support him in Kanpur. shadman [Islam] he made 90 something [in the first Test in Pakistan] but there was no support [from the top-order batters] at the far end. The top order can only help the team with great partnerships. We talked about winning after scoring 26 for 6 in Pakistan, but our top order didn’t work well. “High-level racing will ensure consistent team performance.”
Shanto admitted that his own lack of runs was also contributing to the collapse of the top order. He made 9 and 36 at Chattogram, when Kagiso Rabada dismissed him for the first time with a brilliant delivery in the first innings, before he put one ahead to Tony de Zorzi when left-arm spinner Senuran Muthusamy’s leg slipped. Shanto has scored just fifty in his last 17 Test innings, 15 of which came after his appointment as full-time captain across formats in February.
“I have an important role as a top-order batsman. I am supposed to score runs,” Shanto said. “It’s not happening, and the worst thing is that I’m getting between 20 and 40. It’s not good for the team. I have to focus more on my batting.”
Shanto suggested that the team tends to suffer whenever there are distractions around them, such as discussions about his captaincy. There have been regular off-field problems since the tour of Pakistan. Less than a week before this Test series against South Africa, the BCB sacked coach Chandika Hathurusinghe, while Shakib Al Hasan could not fulfill his wish to play a farewell Test in Dhaka after the government told him it could not guarantee their safety due to protests around the Shere Bangla National Stadium.
“[Distractions] He could have contributed, but that doesn’t mean we will play so badly,” Shanto said. “He was bowled out for 100 or 150 runs. Players have to adapt to these things, even if it is difficult. Still, it shouldn’t be that bad. We have to improve our skills and change our way of thinking. “We have to find out exactly what’s going on.”
