'Clear minded' Shanto happy with his century
Cricfrenzy
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Bangladesh left-handed batter Nazjmul Hossain Shanto was 'happy' and pleased with his performance after strucking his third Test century against Afghanistan in the opening day of the one-off Test match.
The left-handed batter smashed 146 runs off 175 balls and put up a mammoth partnership of 212 runs with young opener Mahmudul Hasan to help Bangladesh reach 362-5 at stumps.
“Alhamdulillah I’m happy with what I could score. Yes, the innings could have been bigger, I will try to make it bigger if I get such an opportunity the next day,” said Shanto.
Shanto admitted that it was not easy to score runs against the Afghans and he believes there is no easy way to score against any opponent in international cricket.
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"I have never found a weak team in international cricket. I had to put forth a lot of effort to score runs against each opponent. They also bowled with an approach. It was definitely my fault that I got out. They did, however, bowl with a strategy. I don't believe runs can be scored easily against any team," said Shanto.
“It didn't seem easy to me. I just tried to work on the plan, I was very clear, what I wanted to do. That might look easy for you. But from the beginning I had to bat with difficulty,” he added.
Afghan bowler Nijat Masood made a great start to his Test debut, dismissing opener Zakir Hasan on the very first ball. Zakir was out for one as the score stood at 6-1 after 1.1 overs. Then, Shanto began striking, while Mahmudul (76) helped him create a dangerous stand by standing firm.
Shanto hailed the Afghan bowlers who battled the heat, "They attempted to bowl in excellent spots. The manner in which they have bowled in this summer, should be credited. The spinners also bowled brilliantly."
