Bangladesh secured a memorable nine-wicket victory in the first Test in Darwin, recording their first-ever Test win on Australian soil. The result also gave the visitors a 1-0 lead in the series and put them within reach of a landmark clean sweep.
Shanto hailed the team's performance but stressed that Bangladesh must maintain the same discipline and intensity in the second Test.
“I’m very happy and proud of myself and the way the boys played. We did a lot of hard work,” Shanto said after the historic victory.
The Bangladesh captain pointed to the emergence of a strong pace attack as one of the biggest changes in the team’s Test cricket approach.
Hasan Mahmud, Taskin Ahmed and Ebadot Hossain played key roles in Darwin, while Mehidy Hasan Miraz also made a major impact with both bat and ball.
“That is the biggest change for Bangladesh in Test format,” Shanto said. “Earlier, five years ago, pacers didn't want to play Tests. But we've been playing lots of Test cricket and they are giving importance to Test format. They want to play, want to perform, want to be world-class. That is the mindset they now have.”
Shanto also praised opener Tanzid Hasan, who scored his maiden Test century in Bangladesh’s first innings, for adapting his aggressive white-ball approach to the demands of Test cricket.
“He attacks in the white-ball game, but in this Test he was calm and played shots on the ball's merit. As a top-order batter, we want him to have impact and he did it,” he said.
The victory in Darwin was Bangladesh’s biggest win yet across formats, according to Shanto, but the captain was already looking ahead.
“This is the biggest win so far for Bangladesh in any format. Going forward, we want to do something special in the future,” he said.
With one Test still remaining, Bangladesh now have the opportunity to complete a historic series clean sweep in Australia. However, Shanto knows the job is far from finished.
“We are confident of a clean sweep, but we need to play good cricket and be consistent in all departments of the game,”
Bangladesh will now look to carry their momentum into the second Test, with a series sweep potentially turning an already historic tour into one of the finest achievements in the country’s Test history.
