In-form Bangladesh batsman Najmul Hossain Shanto believes that he can go all out blazing if that is the requirement of the team in the shortest format.
Najmul, whose inclusion in the World Cup raised quite a few eyebrows, announced his arrival in the shortest format by becoming the leading scorer for the Tigers in the World Cup, making 180 runs at a strike rate of 114.65 in five games that included two half centuries.
The 24-year-old played a similar role for Sylhet Strikers in the last year’s Bangladesh Premier League, the country’s lone franchise basedT20 tournament, and it worked for him as well as he scored the highest 516 runs at a strike rate of 116.74 that included four fifties.
Najmul had a decent run in the ODI series against England where he smashed two fifties in three matches and he feels if the team requires him to change his gears, he is ready to do that by shifting his mentality.
“For a batsman, most important thing is that he needs to be clear about his duty and I had that in the World Cup as the team management specified my role and I was very clear about that and the team management backed me as per the plan,” Najmul told The Daily Sun in a recent interview.
“If someday they say I have to hit from the first ball, in that case, I will change my practice pattern and my mentality and later apply it in my new role.
“I am not saying I will do it whenever I am asked to do that but I have the faith in myself that I can fulfil that role as well. The thing is wherever I play if the plan is clear, it helps a batsman to perform,” he said, adding that he earlier struggled with his confidence which denied him from playing good innings for the team.
“Earlier I didn’t have the confidence. But now I have faith that if I am playing at a strike rate of 100, after 10 balls it will go up to 130. It is the main reason behind if you see whenever I scored runs, I had a strike rate of 130.
Before the T20I series against England, Bangladesh head coach Chandika Hathurusingha said that he was impressed with the way Najmul batted against England in the ODIs and hoped to see him carrying the batting form.
“Shanto really grabbed his opportunities in the ODI series. I didn’t know his record before. He didn’t have a very good ODI record. The way he batted was impressive,” said Hathurusingha.
“He’s good against fast bowlers. And then, if you look at his record, he has played overseas as well. He is a very good player for us going forward,” he concluded.
